Red Bull upgrades key to Ricciardo chances
Perth-born F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is expecting his Red Bull Racing team will again edge closer to pace-setters Mercedes and Ferrari at this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix, after the squad clawed back almost one second between Australia and the last race in Bahrain.
A slew of part updates for the RB13 should provide additional pace, while Sochi Autodrom’s maturing track surface will enable wider race strategy options, and the potential for the team to think quick and steal a result.
“Now that we’ve been to the track a few times I think the tarmac will be better,” said Ricciardo, with Sochi hosting its fourth event after it joined the F1 calendar as a legacy project following the 2014 Winter Olympics.
“It’s a bit like Austin in the first few years, when it took a while to bed in. But I expect this year for the track to be grippy and with these cars it should be quite fast. I would say it’s going to be more enjoyable than it has been so I’m looking forward to that.”
The 27-year-old, whose car is about 0.9 seconds off the pace ahead of Sochi, has had to play down expectations of a title charge for now, despite this year’s huge technical regulation revamp thought to play to its strength in aerodynamics.
“We’ve felt like we’ve had slow starts and then we’ve progressed, especially last year, [when] we kind of got better and better,” Ricciardo said pre-season.
“So I feel like we’re already ahead of where we were this time last year so if we can continue on that same trend, then it should put us in a good place hopefully before mid-season.”
Red Bull motorsport consultant Doctor Helmut Marko has not given up on the team’s chances of getting ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari.
“When we fought for the championship with Sebastian (Vettel) against Alonso [in 2012] we were 42 points behind still after the summer break – and won! So are we the masters of catch-up?” he said to Formula1.com.
Last year, Red Bull picked up two opportunistic wins, with Max Verstappen on debut with the team in Spain and then Ricciardo in Malaysia, but the team was scoring consistent podiums from Austria onwards.
Monaco slipped through its fingers, a botched pit stop costing the Australian an early victory.
Ricciardo challenged for the win in Singapore, though ultimately fell short as he finished runner-up, just 0.488 seconds behind eventual champion Nico Rosberg.
And if Red Bull’s can’t close the gap on development to the two top teams, then Singapore could be another win shot – with drivers able to make the difference at the tight and twisty Marina Bay track, and the Australian driver fitter than ever, care of two boot camps in the off-season in Perth and Los Angeles.
“The aim is to be better prepared than everyone [there], and I believe I am but it’s certainly one that if a driver doesn’t quite take some of those real physical ones seriously, if they’re out enjoying their weekends more than they should, then I definitely feel it will show this year,” Ricciardo said.
And the Duncraig lad enjoys the challenge of the hot and humid city-state, with the 27-year-old normally bringing friends and family across to celebrate, given its proximity to Perth.
Singapore, which celebrates its 10th event this year, became an instant classic from its debut in 2008, combining night racing with huge music acts. And this year should be no different with the news this week that American pop superstar Ariana Grande, British synth-pop veterans Duran Duran, US pop-rockers OneRepublic and US DJ duo The Chainsmokers will headline the entertainment line-up.
Other headlining acts include pop icon Seal, famed British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas, and spoken word performer George the Poet. More acts will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
“I think hats off to them, they [Singapore] do it really well,” Ricciardo said.
“The track’s built a bit of a reputation for being probably the most physical one – and the longest race of the year. There’s a lot of hype and excitement that comes with that race and I certainly enjoy it on the calendar.”