Red Bull 'making progress' on catching Mercedes

Red Bull has made definite progress in catching up with Mercedes and Ferrari at the front of the grid, according to drivers Daniel Ricciaerdo and Max Verstappen.

But they admit that there's still a long way to go before the team is able to realistically challenge at the front of the grid.

"For now it is as expected," said Ricciardo. "We made some progress but we knew it still was not going to put us up with Mercedes.

"There were times where it felt pretty good and times when we're still trying to find our way," he admitted.

"I feel we can still perfect what we've got and get a bit more tenths out of it. We want more, but we are in line with what we predicted."

The Australian said that the start of FP2 had been a struggle on the medium compound tyres. "But we found a bit more with the softs," he added.

"The last sector was tricky. There was a big tail wind as well, so you lose the car. Front and rear it feels pretty slow in the last sector. I think that is probably the same for everyone. We just have to put it all together.

"We’re getting there, we’re feeling a bit of progress - we just need to keep fine-tuning it."

• Spanish GP: Mercedes drivers stay on top in FP2

"It was a positive day," added Verstappen, who had a high-speed run-off into the gravel in FP2. He managed to keep the RB13 away from the barriers, so no harm was done.

"We are closer to Ferrari," said the teenager. "But it looks like Mercedes brought a good upgrade package. I think we are still the third team.

"I'm a little bit happier than this morning but we still need to find a bit more pace in the car and the engine."

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