Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull is now in a position where they can challenge Mercedes and Ferrari in a straight fight for victories, as they continue to improve in the second half of the season.
Following a slow start to the year after the major rule changes, the Milton Keynes outfit is now enjoying their most successful run of the season so far, having secured their first back-to-back double podium finishes of the hybrid era in Malaysia and Japan.
Yet, their recent results have come as the top two teams have had problems, whether it be Mercedes’ lack of pace in the heat of Sepang or Ferrari’s poor reliability.
Regardless, Ricciardo, who has nine podiums to his name so far in 2017, believes those performances are genuine and prove the gains Red Bull have made.
“I still think if we get it all right we can be there whether they do [have problems] or not,” he said in Austin on Thursday.
“Malaysia I don’t think Mercedes got it wrong, their pace just was not as strong. Ferrari seems, if Ferrari executes well then, they have probably the quickest car. But it does not seem like it is easy to do every weekend, so if we focus on ourselves we can be in a position regardless.”
Looking to maintain the momentum this weekend at the United States Grand Prix, the Australian sees no reason why their good form can’t continue at the Circuit of the Americas.
“[Our] race pace in the last few races has been good,” Ricciardo claimed. “This track typically has been a pretty good one for us. Obviously, we need to be at our best to win, it is not going to come easy, but if we execute then we have a chance to win.”
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Red Bull’s strong development is raising hopes that the former four-time world champions could be fully in the mix to compete from 2018.
Daniel even revealed this week the team has started work earlier on next year’s car in a bid to avoid a repeat of the sluggish start, but asked if he thinks they can be competitive, he remained cautious.
“Every year we get to this point where it gives us confidence for next year. I have to say it does because it should, but next year we will see,” he commented. “Come February, March we will see where we are but we are definitely going in the direction we need to be going. So that is all we can look for.”
Teammate Max Verstappen, who himself has finished first and second in the last two races, agrees it will be harder to challenge if a weakness isn’t addressed.
“I think the last few races we’ve definitely made a good step, especially like in the race, [but] in qualifying we will always be behind if we don’t have this qualifying [engine] mode,” the Dutchman said.
“That’s hard because then in the races it’s very difficult to pass but we’ll see. I think this track is actually not too bad so hopefully we can have a good race weekend again.”
