- Jerez Test - Day One
Ricciardo 'not intimidated' by 2015 Mercedes
Daniel Ricciardo is encouraged by the first run of Red Bull's RB10 despite it encountering teething problems and says he is unfazed by Mercedes' impressive start to winter testing.
Red Bull unveiled a striking black and white testing livery ahead of the first day at Jerez, with Ricciardo finishing fourth in the standings after completing 35 laps - the second lowest of the day. His running was hampered by two issues, a battery issue which caused a rear brake failure through the MGU-K and another engine-related issue in the afternoon.
By contrast, Nico Rosberg completed a mammoth 157 laps for Mercedes - twice as much as anyone else. But even though Ricciardo expected a strong start from Mercedes after last year's dominance he is confident Red Bull and Renault can catch up before the opener in Australia.
"They'll probably use all their mileage up before the first race!" Ricciardo joked when asked about Rosberg's mileage. "No, it's not really a surprise. We knew they came out with a pretty awesome package last season and they're probably just refining and perfecting that this year. Not surprised with their reliability but it's a lot of laps for day one.
"They more or less know what they're getting into and pace looked good too. There's no surprise, I expected them to be the team to beat come Melbourne. But I'm not intimidated either, I think it's a reachable target for us."
Part of the reason for Ricciardo's confidence is his first impression of the Renault power unit this season, which caused Red Bull huge problems this time last year.
"To be honest yes," Ricciardo said when asked if Renault has made a step forward. "I'm not going to go into too much detail, but yes. I can't give too much away but we understand what we're running here and it's good. We still need to refine a few things with driveability, normal things before the start of the year, but generally it's what we expected. It's too early to say. I think it is but we'll see in Melbourne when everyone's even but for now there's positive signs."
On the topic of Red Bull's new livery, Ricciardo was in a typically jovial mood.
"It's cool, huh? Obviously I had nothing to do with it but I think it looks good and we'll run it for all the pre-season tests. Do I look camouflaged? Maybe I need a matching helmet so you can't see me!"
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