Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull has yet to show its true pace on low fuel but is confident it is competitive in race trim.
The penultimate day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya again saw Mercedes top the times with Lewis Hamilton fastest on soft tyres despite the majority of the field using supersofts. Ricciardo was slowest over one lap but he says the high fuel running is more representative of Red Bull’s pace.
“It looks more promising,” Ricciardo said. “I don’t think we’ve yet shown our true pace on low fuel but the high fuel stuff seems like we’re a bit happier I think than where we feel like we should be. We’ll see in Melbourne when everyone’s on the right fuel loads and all that but I think we do look more competitive on high fuel for now.”
And Ricciardo warns Red Bull might not be performing at its best at the first race but says the car has the capability to be competitive.
“We’ve definitely got a lot of potential. We had a few little bits on it today which were definitely a step in the right direction. Some of our weaknesses from last year I feel we’re starting to iron them out, so that’s good.
“With Renault we’re getting there. There’s still some gains to be made for sure, but we know these will take a bit of time and we’ll do what we can for now.
“We made some improvements today. There’s still more to be made, for sure. Even last year it took a while to get it where we wanted. It’s definitely started in a better place this year but there’s still some fine-tuning which needs to be done.”
Full times and day three of the final test as it happened
Click here for the gallery from day three of the final test
