Ricciardo: Hardly any chance of Red Bull catching up with rivals

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Daniel Ricciardo believes the importance of Red Bull's current deficit to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari rules out a title bid.

Just two races into the 2017 season, Red Bull is lagging its main adversaries by 1.3 seconds, according to the Aussie. A gap he can't see closing any time soon.

"This is not an overnight fix," Ricciardo says, referring to Red Bull's main weakness in the aero department.

"We have to look at it just day by day and try every day to find something to be better than the day before.

"We can’t say this weekend or the next race we will be able to win. Not even if the circumstances are right."

The Honey Badger admitted to be disappointed by his state of affairs, and the time it will take to fully exploit his RB13's full potential.

"In all honesty we didn’t expect to be that far off," he adds.

"In Barcelona we already knew that we weren’t the quickest, but we thought that we could be within half a second - maximum half a second behind. And with a good chassis we could compensate quite a bit.

"But not 1.3 seconds. So yes, we’ve got some work to do."

Verstappen convinced he can put one over on Hamilton

A chassis upgrade is in the works for Barcelona, followed by a Renault engine update in Montreal. But by then, both Hamilton and Vettel may be long gone.

"To start thinking about the championship, well it is still very early in the season - but at the moment it is also very unrealistic.

"For the next couple of races they will get a lot of points - and then bye-bye title.

" If we were three-tenths off, then yes there would be a chance to catch up - but with this gap, no. So we have to focus on putting ourselves in the best possible situation there is."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.