Daniel Ricciardo: “We are too far from the top places”

The first European Grand Prix of the season in Spain in a little over a week on the Catalan circuit of Montmelo should see a number of changes appear on the single-seaters on the grid in F1.

Traditionally an important step in the teams' development program, Barcelona could allow certain teams to return to the forefront, or the current leaders to widen the gap even further.

In the clan Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo looks forward to the updates that will be made by Milton Keynes on its car, but remains cautious about the hoped-for positive consequences.

“The start of the season was mixed for me, admits the Australian on the Red Bull website. We all have a good idea of ​​where we are currently, and I know we still have to see where we will be in Barcelona, ​​but unfortunately, we are too far from the top places at the moment.

Even though we have a good development at Barcelona, ​​it is difficult to see how this will instantly put us back in front, and we all know that.

It might take a little while for us to be able to fight for wins, but we are optimistic we can make big progress.

We're bringing a pretty big upgrade to Spain that's been talked about a lot, and you can be sure that all the other teams will have put in a lot of work too.

There is no 'magic bullet' in F1 that will see us start winning every race from there, that sort of thing doesn't exist anymore. So I hope we can be pleasantly surprised by the gains we get next weekend. »

The challenge ofAlonso impresses Ricciardo

The Australian also returned to Fernando Alonso's participation in the next Indianapolis 500. The Spaniard, who made his first laps earlier in the week, is taking on a somewhat unthinkable challenge for Ricciardo.

“When you think about it, he's about to run his first race IndyCar on an oval, and not just any oval, the most famous oval of all, it's incredible, admits Ricciardo. I love Indy, but if I'm completely honest, this scares me.

With good preparation, I would be ready for an IndyCar race on a road course, but an oval, I think I would be more tempted by the NASCAR.

When you think about all the steps he has to go through, the Rookie Orientation Program, learning how to traffic on an oval: it's very intense and extensive. »