Breaking news

Formula 1 British GP

Ricciardo says Red Bull can fight Ferrari at Silverstone

Daniel Ricciardo reckons Red Bull can fight Ferrari in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, but suggests Mercedes might be out of reach.

Pablo Elizalde

Pablo Elizalde

Edited: Jul 14, 2017, 2:35 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB13

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB13

 Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton dominated both practice sessions on Friday, while Red Bull's drivers finished behind both Ferraris in the afternoon session.

Max Verstappen was the quickest Red Bull in fifth, less than three tenths behind Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari.

Ricciardo, who finished a second off Hamilton's FP2 pace in sixth, reckons Red Bull can be a match for Ferrari this weekend once the Austrian team manages to extract more from its car.

"Mercedes were rapid today, and normally they are quicker in qualifying so we will let them do their thing at the moment," said Ricciardo.

"But I think on one-lap pace we can get Ferrari and that will translate to higher fuel running. I know the feeling with the car is not where it can be, so for sure there is laptime on the table."

He added: "We can definitely improve from where we are. I think we have learned a lot today. In the end we didn't get the right balance or feeling, so we will make some changes tonight and have a better car tomorrow."

While he reckoned the gap to Mercedes is not as big as today suggested, Verstappen admitted Red Bull was not fast enough yet.

"I don't think it [the gap] is 0.6 seconds. It is more that we still need to work. I think they are definitely a bit quicker and we didn't have a great session.

"We still need to work. We are not quick enough. The car balance was not fantastic. It felt a bit better in first practice and we need to understand why.

"I was not really happy in the second practice with the balance of the car, but I think we re a little bit too slow at the moment so we still need to work for sure."

Ricciardo felt Red Bull's form was also hurt by the windy conditions on track.

"I don't think the wind was favouring us today but we still managed to do Copse flat out, so that was fun," he said. "I think we can definitely still find some speed there."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble

 

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article British GP: Bottas beats Hamilton by 0.047s in FP2

Next article Vettel says Shield made him “dizzy” in test run

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Pablo Elizalde



Alpine becomes Pramac's main partner in MotoGP

MotoGP

MotoGP

Alpine becomes Pramac's main partner in MotoGP



Liberty Media's $4bn MotoGP deal facing EU probe

MotoGP

MotoGP

Liberty Media's $4bn MotoGP deal facing EU probe



Ocon wants answers to understand pace slump against Alpine team-mate

Formula 1

Formula 1

Ocon wants answers to understand pace slump against Alpine team-mate

More from

Daniel Ricciardo



Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"

Formula 1

Formula 1

Barcelona-Catalunya GP

Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"



Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP

Formula 1

Formula 1

Canadian GP

Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP



Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit

Formula 1

Formula 1

Canadian GP

Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit

More from

Red Bull Racing



Christian Horner takes cheeky swipe at Guenther Steiner: 'He never achieved an F1 podium'

Formula 1

Formula 1

Singapore GP

8 h

Christian Horner takes cheeky swipe at Guenther Steiner: 'He never achieved an F1 podium'



Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?



Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"

Formula 1

Formula 1 12 h

Christian Horner admits that F1 rivalry with Toto Wolff became "theatre"

Latest news



Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

4 h

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links



Did Haas make the correct decision in signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027?

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

6 h

Did Haas make the correct decision in signing Rafael Camara for F1 2027?



Frederik Vesti steps up to full-time role as Cadillac Racing details 2027 IMSA lineup

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 6 h

Frederik Vesti steps up to full-time role as Cadillac Racing details 2027 IMSA lineup



Rafael Camara to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

6 h

Rafael Camara to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for F1 2027

Feature

Discover prime content



Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?



Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Formula 1

By Filip Cleeren

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past



Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine



Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

By Autosport

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe