Ricciardo: Red Bull can compete with Mercedes in China or Spain
In an interview published on Red Bull's official website, Daniel Ricciardo stated that, in his opinion, the RB10s will be capable of competing against Mercedes on tracks where top speed is less predominant. He also reflected on his Malaysian Grand Prix.
After two zero scores, the first due to a disqualification in Australia, the second due to a botched pit stop in Malaysia, Daniel Ricciardo heads to Bahrain with a 10-place grid penalty already acquired but, more importantly, with the conviction that Red Bull has what it takes to challenge Mercedes on tracks where speed will be less prevalent than in Sepang or even Sakhir.
When asked on the Red Bull site about the progress made since Melbourne, the Australian expressed confidence in the car’s intrinsic qualities: « We seemed a little closer, didn’t we? I think the car itself, both aerodynamically and mechanically, is competitive. »
He knows, however, that the deficit lies in the top speed: « We know we’re a bit lacking in straight-line speed, and it hurts us in a place like Sepang. But in the second sector [the twisty part of the circuit, ed.] we were strong all weekend and on pace with the Mercedes. We’ll see how Bahrain goes, but once we’re in China and – even better – in Barcelona, I think we can really give them a fight. »
Bahrain, indeed, will he approach it with extra aggression? « In terms of aggression… well, there won’t be too much of it! I’m going to Bahrain thinking I should start 11th [with his 10-place grid penalty, editor’s note] and I need to make an aggressive start to get back into the fight. I need to score points, and that’s not going to happen if I’m in the middle of the pack. »
« That being said, I don’t think I need to change much. I believe I’m driving with good intensity, so I don’t need to do anything drastically different, » he added on this point.
Looking back on the Malaysian Grand Prix, the driver with number 3 explained the episode of the team order he was given. So, on the 18th lap of the Grand Prix, his race engineer asked him to fall back two seconds from Sebastian Vettel to protect his tires, to which Ricciardo responded over the radio: « If something happens, I want to be in it. I will be gentle with the tires, but I don’t want to lose time unnecessarily. »
« Simon Rennie, my engineer, wanted me to take care of the tires. At that moment, it had not yet been decided whether we were on a two or three-stop strategy, so the idea was not without basis, » he stated.
« But I don’t think I was killing my tires and I was happy with my pace. I didn’t want to break it because it can cause problems. I could also see that the Mercedes in front wasn’t escaping and it seemed that Seb was catching up to Nico Rosberg. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity if they were fighting. »
Regarding the fateful pit stop on the 41st lap, Daniel Ricciardo accepts it with inevitability: “I got the green light and I went. I watched the video, and it’s clear that as soon as I started moving, the guys knew that the wheel wasn’t secured. The team performs the best pit stops in the paddock, so it’s very rare for something like this to happen, but it did and that’s how it is.”
