- First Barcelona Test - Day Two
Red Bull has 'more in the bag' - Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull has "more in the bag" after setting the fastest time of this week's test in Barcelona on Friday.
Ricciardo clocked a 1:24.574, which is faster than the 2014 cars managed at the Spanish Grand Prix and the post-race test last season, and was 0.010s quicker than Kimi Raikkonen's best effort in the Ferrari. It was a welcome change of pace for Red Bull, which has struggled for mileage and lap time so far in winter testing, but Ricciardo said there is still more to come from the RB11.
"It's got similar characteristics [to the RB10], but I don't think that's a bad thing because last year our chassis was pretty strong," he said. "A few things have improved and we did a lot of running today, but we still have quite a bit more to understand and to get it further up. It's encouraging though to be up there and have a bit more in the bag."
Ricciardo said the Red Bull is up on power this year thanks to the improved perfomance of the Renault power unit, but admitted his team could not hope to match the Mercedes' BHP figures this year.
"It's definitely got some more ponies," he added. "We knew it would, it was just always a question of how much more it would have compared to the Merc from last year and how much can we close that gap. Through the speed traps we are still not as fast, but I think there is more to come. Realistically if we have closed the gap by half then I think we will take that for now and keep plugging away at it."
Ricciardo is expecting a tight battle behind Mercedes when the season gets underway in March in Australia.
"I think Mercedes is more or less for sure going to be up there fighting for the podium," Ricciardo said. "And I think it will be pretty close then with us, Williams and Ferrari. Ferrari have looked strong already at Jerez so we all look to be on a similar pace for now."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
