Red Bull is in the best shape of the season so far says Ricciardo

2017 Monaco Grand Prix

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Red Bull has got a handle on its rear traction problem and is in its best shape of the season so far, says Daniel Ricciardo.

Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix pole sitter set the second-fastest time during practice on Thursday and said the team are “looking pretty good at the moment.”

Monaco Grand Prix practice in pictures
“We put some good laps together and know where we need to improve so I’m very happy with our position after the first day,” said Ricciardo.

“We have good downforce here, the rear of the car feels like it is working the best it has so far this year. If we can get the tyres warmed up I think we can be pretty close on Saturday.”

Ricciardo said his car’s set-up needs little change between now and the resumption of practice on Saturday.

“I’m pleased with the car’s rhythm and set-up which gives me confidence and makes me feel we are back in that groove after the first couple of practice sessions,” he explained.

“I don’t think we need to do too much to the car set-up wise at the moment, just a couple of small tweaks overnight perhaps. Being the first time round here with the new cars it definitely felt a little bit tighter so that needs to be considered when pushing on quick laps, but as I said, so much fun as always.”

Max Verstappen ended second practice in sixth place. “The red flag messed up my run a bit so I didn’t get a good chance on the new tyres and to show a true fast lap potential,” he said.

“I have learnt from the last few years you do not need to be the quickest on Thursday, it takes a lot of concentration here as one small mistake means you are in the wall and the session is over.”

2017 Monaco Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    9 comments on “Red Bull is in the best shape of the season so far says Ricciardo”

    1. I sincerely hope, for once, Mercedes doesn’t get the better of their setup problems during FP2 and we’ll see Ferrari and Red Bull fighting for victory.

      My favourite podium would be:
      1. Ricciardo (unfinished business)
      2. Verstappen (I’m a fan, but this would also be well deserved if Red Bull can deliver, especially seeing his 2 prior Monaco GP results)
      3. Vettel (to extend his championship lead over Hamilton)

      But realistically I expect 1. Vettel, 2. Hamilton, 3. Ricciardo.

      1. Micheal (@shakengandulf)
        26th May 2017, 3:04

        I wont disagree with this.

        I still feel that hamilton is in the best position for the championship and anything that can slow him down will do for me.

      2. @addvariety
        Even with Mercedes having troubles i dont see red Bull fighting Ferrari over anything, thats just a dream.

      3. It would be good for Ricciardo to redeem himself, not for 2016, but for being beaten by his team mate each race in 2017 so far. Monaco may be the circuit to achive that, less chance of overtaking, a specialty of Verstappen lately.

        To get in front of quali is more important than on any ther track, Ric is well know for his one-lap pace, although Ver has had some issues in quali this year and the balance is a bit coloured, Ric may have a better shot at Monaco than other tracks.

        1. For Ric it would indeed be important to qualify well. Ver showed you can overtake in Monaco the past 2 years -before dramatically crashing out that was – so even if Ver qualifies behind Ric I would say their chances are equal.

        2. I don’t fully agree with you to be honest. Yes, Verstappen has had a phenomenal start of the 2017 season, except for some reliability issues that Ricciardo also faced. But Ricciardo has had a combination of bad luck and reliability issues in quite a lot of sessions, which is why he hasn’t been able to get everything out of the car.

          Verstappen has recently (again) mentioned they both share all their engineering data bar Q3 laps, they do this so they can both from each other which they feel will get them close to Ferrari and Mercedes. Yet even with that data, Ricciardo was sometimes about 0.5 seconds off the pace in Q3. That’s not a lack of quality, but rather not being able to fully trust the car and/or get it to its absolute limits.

    2. Would love to see Ricciardo on pole but currently half a second off Vettel I can’t see it happening.

    3. Generally getting setup and downforce right for Monaco is completely irrelevant for any other track so nothing really to get excited about unless their rear traction issues are better in the next race.

      I’d love to see them do well in Monaco, love Dan to win to make up for last year, but I’d be a lot happier if they were fighting right at the front all year rather than being so far off the pace. Not sure solving rear problems here will alter that situation much.

    4. I think a Red Bull podium is definitely on the cards.. especially considering how lack lustre the #2 drivers of Mercedes and Ferrari have looked all weekend.

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