Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Fightback boosts Ricciardo hopes of Red Bull turnaround

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Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull can target the top five at the next two races after fighting through the field at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Having taken a 10-place grid penalty for an internal combustion engine change, Ricciardo started from 18th on the grid at a circuit where Red Bull expected to struggle. With six retirements and competitive race pace, Ricciardo managed to climb in to the top ten and says it bodes well for the coming races.

”I look that we started at the back and got one point off probably our hardest circuit on the calendar, in terms of where we think the car performs,” Ricciardo said. “So coming to Silverstone and Budapest with no penalties we should be well inside the points and hopefully fight for a top five.”

And Ricciardo believes the high-speed nature of Silverstone will suit the RB11 better than Austria as it looks to upgrade the car.

“You still need a bit of horsepower, but obviously the high-speed corners, I think we can lean on the car more there. We have been waiting for one of those tracks for a little bit now where we feel we car get the most out of the car and put on bits we want to put on. Budapest should play in our favour even more.”

Click here for the gallery of Raikkonen and Alonso's crash at the Austrian Grand Prix

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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.