Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull can realistically challenge Ferrari after he and team-mate Max Verstappen split the two red cars in practice in Austria.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit hasn’t traditionally gone well at their home circuit in Spielberg but fourth and fifth, with Verstappen slightly the quicker, does indicate a better weekend is in prospect.
The worry that remains for the Australian, looking ahead to Saturday, is whether Red Bull can remain in touch when engines are turned up in qualifying.
“A pretty good day, we did most things, we could not get a full long run at the end, we had a couple of issues, but otherwise we seem relatively competitive for what it is,” Ricciardo said in summary.
“The top five cars are within four tenths or something, so I would hope that would stay for qualifying then it would be a pretty exciting show for the weekend.
“I expect the normal situation with Mercedes, they will have a bit more for qualifying, but hopefully Ferrari don’t have too much more and we can try be in that battle. We are between Seb and Raikkonen at the moment, so hopefully we will hang in there.”
One thing that did surprise the 28-year-old was the lack of performance gain across the tyre compounds, potentially due to the lack of grip seen on Friday. That could change if the weather stays dry and the circuit rubbers in, if not, however, the Baku race winner sees the potential for varying strategies.
“It is a bit surprising; the soft does not look too bad,” he said referring to the hardest compound Pirelli has brought to Austria.
“Lewis was quickest this morning with the soft, so obviously they have a quick car but still to be quickest on that tyre shows it is pretty durable and strong around here.
“I think a lot of teams tonight will be looking at their options for Sunday and not thinking it is a clear one-stop with an ultra soft and the super soft anymore.”
As for Verstappen, the 19-year-old was again left unhappy by the yellow kerbs installed to detract drivers from running wide at certain corners. His criticism echoed that he made last year when he broke his suspension by running over the mini speed bumps.
“Challenges? The yellow kerbs again, luckily not too much damage,” he jibed.
“Yeah, I think it’s a lot of kerb for a Formula 1 car. The cars are not designed for it.”