Red Bull hoped to be closer to Mercedes

With an increasingly faster RB10, helped by improvements to the turbo/hybrid V6 Renault and the new fuel from Total, Daniel Ricciardo et Sebastian Vettel hope to go fight with the Mercedes W05 Hybrid tomorrow in the race. And once again, it is the Australian who will lead the Austrian team, having once again beaten the world champion in qualifying. But both drivers believe they could have been closer today for completely different reasons. “I made a mistake in the last run in Q3, admits Ricciardo. Either way, there's no room for excuses here, so I'll learn my lesson for next time. I will be disappointed not to finish on the podium tomorrow. I think we have the pace to hang on to Mercedes, so hopefully we can pass at least one at the start and maybe do something with the strategy to give us a real chance of victory. »

At Sebastian Vettel, no errors in qualifying but a new breakdown on his car. The world champion is not spared this season. “At one point in Q1 we lost the ERS, so basically the electrical power was being distributed but not charging. This was the first time this happened this weekend, but these things happen. We tried different modes, to find one that suited. My time was OK but we were unable to improve on the second lap in Q3 as there was a yellow flag. »

If bad luck leaves the German a little tomorrow, we will have to closely monitor the second row of the starting grid, ready to take advantage of the slightest opening against the Mercedes W05 Hybrid. Response at 14 p.m. when lights go out.