Ricciardo “in symbiosis” with his Red Bull in Baku

Already 2nd in Free Practice 1, the Australian produced an almost perfect copy while his fiery teammate Max Verstappen went to embrace the protections during the inaugural session, thus losing precious time when getting his bearings ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

« It was a good day, we are really happy, said Ricciardo barely got out of his car. On a city track, you have to take it step by step and the car behaved really well. It allowed me to gain the necessary insurance. We were in symbiosis and it's a good starting point to build the rest of the weekend.

We were fast, that’s for sure. Afterwards, our long stints in Ultra-Soft could have been better but in Super-Soft the trend is positive. The car performs very well in the winding section, we are really good in the second sector ».

With Verstappen also 3rd in Free Practice 2, Red Bull appears in excellent position at the end of the opening day. Ricciardo, recently victorious in China and winner of a crazy race last year in Baku, however expects the competition to raise their level of play during qualifying.  

« As usual, I think our rivals will release more engine power on Saturday and we will probably lose a little more time in sectors 1 and 3. That said, even if we don't qualify on the front row, our car seems very competitive in race configuration so we are in the group of favorites ».