Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Ricciardo lacking confidence on brakes

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Daniel Ricciardo says a lack of confidence under braking is costing him time in the Red Bull RB11 compared to last season.

Having made the step up to Red Bull from Toro Rosso in 2014, one standout area of Ricciardo's performance was under braking as he pulled off numerous late overtaking moves and often found time compared to team-mate Sebastian Vettel. However, with Red Bull struggling so far this season, Ricciardo says he has lost one of his strengths as he is unhappy with the feel from this year's brakes.

"So far we haven’t had the confidence on braking as last year," Ricciardo said. "It is not an excuse. We just seem to be... for sure for the first few races we had issues with the brakes themselves, but now there are a few things with ride and the cars reaction over bumps etc on the track, we seem to be a bit more sensitive.

"But to be honest [in Bahrain] I had more confidence on braking than perhaps what I did [in China]. I think we have understood a little bit, as I said, with the aero side, optimum settings and stuff.

"We are getting back to where we were last year. China was tricky. The moves that would have looked easy last year were not as easy. Hopefully we get it back because I had too much fun last year."

Click here for a look at the brake-by-wire system which caused Mercedes problems in Bahrain

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.