Daniel Ricciardo says there is “more to be unlocked” at Red Bull in Bahrain following a disappointing Chinese Grand Prix.
Red Bull appeared to have made a step forward throughout the weekend in China, with Ricciardo competitive enough following qualifying to think he could beat both Williams cars. However, a poor start on Sunday dropped him down the field and his race pace was not strong enough to climb higher than ninth by the end of the race.
Despite Red Bull having struggled so far this season, Ricciardo says the positive from China is there is more potential in the car than is currently being exploited and he believes the right set-up will propel the team further up the grid.
“I believe, within the car, there’s more to be unlocked, so to speak,” Ricciardo said. “In terms of setup, I don’t think myself or Dany [Kvyat] have really found a balance or setting that we’re really comfortable with. I think China took a step forward, we did start to feel more comfortable but it still obviously didn’t give us a big chunk of lap time that we thought was still in there.
“So, there’s still a few balance things. If we keep ironing them out we will find… I don’t think it’s a second but we are going to find a fair few tenths that will put us in that group with Williams and hopefully get us onto the back of the Ferraris.
“Good race here last year. I think we had good pace. Again just optimistic for a better weekend here. Everyone’s ready to go, and obviously after my start last week I’m hanging out to get back on the grid and redeem myself.”
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