Daniel Ricciardo is confident he would be able to beat both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to a world title in Formula 1 if given a competitive enough car.
The Australian, along with Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, were considered among the potential title contenders at the start of the year, but instead, have endured a year of frustration as the Milton Keynes outfit has fallen back from Mercedes and behind a resurgent Ferrari.
The lack of performance has not quelled Ricciardo’s ambition and his confidence in his own abilities, insisting he and Verstappen are both on the same level as the two main title contenders.
“Absolutely. I felt that since 2014,” he told ESPN when asked if he felt ready to win a championship
“I felt like if I was in a Mercedes I could have won, and last year as well, two kinda key years. So I definitely believe in myself. Max has been, as a teammate goes, my greatest competitor yet and I think we’ve challenged each other more than anyone has before.
“We obviously both believe we could win. I look at Lewis and Seb and these other guys as being also at the top, but I don’t see them being better than me or than Max. I think we could run with them, absolutely.”
There was speculation Ricciardo could have gotten that more competitive car with potential interest from Ferrari for 2018. Though nothing emerged some are still pointing to 2019, when most of the top seats become available, however, the 28-year-old has played down the prospect, suggesting he wouldn’t want to be the back-up for former teammate Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari setup.
“Obviously I’m in a position where I believe I should be fighting for the front,” he told Sky Sports. “If a team said ‘we’ll sign you but you’re going to play bridesmaid to this guy,’ 100 percent I’m not signing there. It’s something you’d talk about in early negotiations.
“I’m definitely in this sport to be successful. For me, success is now winning a world title. I’ve been fortunate to win some races and get the closest thing to it but the point now is to win enough in a season where it leads to a world title.
“For sure, Seb is happy with his [current] team-mate,” he added, referring to Kimi Raikkonen. “That’s clear to everyone.”
Returning to this year and, on the chassis side, Red Bull has made strong progress throughout the year, after correlation issues in the wind tunnel development stage meant a different approach of trying to maximise downforce while also reducing drag in an attempt to have higher top speeds caused trouble.
But concerns over both the reliability and the performance of the Renault power unit continue to be raised, with some doubting if the team can win the title with the French manufacturer during this current engine formula.
The improvements made since May had led Team Principal Christian Horner to set a target of out-scoring Ferrari over the final nine races but, despite a podium last Sunday at Spa, Ricciardo doubts that is attainable.
“Started off on the front foot, getting the podium in Spa, but at the end there I was pushing like hell there to keep Kimi behind me, but Lewis was pushing like hell to keep Seb behind him. So we were all attacking, we weren’t saving tyres, and we were still a second a lap, at least I was, slower than Lewis and Seb.
“So we’ve still got some ground to make up. I think the next update we have is in Singapore, and that will be not only a circuit that suits us but with the upgrade will give us a realistic chance of fighting for another win.”
