Ricciardo believes Racing Bulls ‘have made gains’

Daniel Ricciardo is walking away from his first pre-season Formula 1 testing in two years with a positive frame of mind.

After missing the first half of 2023, Ricciardo prepared for his first full F1 season in two years by showing some pace for the newly named Racing Bulls across the three days in Bahrain.

On days one and two the Aussie had top five pace being fourth on the opening day and on Thursday.

On the final day the #3 focussed more on long runs and development rather than speed being 19th and 6.6s off leader Charles Leclerc after putting 70 laps on the board.

Ricciardo said he has been able to get a good understanding of the VCARB 01.

“I think it’s been good,” he said.

“There was that issue on track with the drain and we were worried we wouldn’t get our race run in so, luckily we got that in.

“We also did some short run stuff last night and on day 1 and then the race sim more or less this morning, the last day, so plenty of laps.

Daniel Ricciardo driving the VCARB 01 on day three of F1 Testing. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

“I feel good and feel fit. 

“I think in terms of performance, we’re as expected, trying to fight in that midfield group.

“I think there’s definitely work to do to catch the front guys, but that’s no surprise and I think it was a pretty smooth test. 

‘I don’t think we leave here with any concerns or scratching our heads. 

“We know where we are and we’ve got to keep working from there.”

Ricciardo’s early top five testing pace did attract plenty of attention, but he does not expect the team to suddenly make a massive Aston Martin style leap forward.

However, he did suggest Racing Bulls has made significant progress from last year where it battled to score points.

“I would say I think people got excited from let’s say the outside,” he said. 

“I think they thought we were going to have a different version of another car from the past but it’s not that, we’re trying to make the most of what we’ve got.

“We’ve definitely developed the car from last year. It’s hard, because we brought updates in Abu Dhabi so we’re comparing it to a car that had fresh updates.

“If we compare it to the car the race before Abu Dhabi it looks like we’ve made a bigger step, but it’s just an evolution of that.

“There are some gains here and there but still if we want to be sure to fight for Q3s and top 10s there’s certainly still gonna be a bit more to find.

“I say that realistically, I don’t say that pessimistically, just realistically.”

Image by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

There is also lots more loaded into a bumper edition of AUTO ACTION magazine, on sale at newsagents Thursday and available digitally here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.

Latest Podcast: Gentlemen Start your Engines – It’s Supercar Season on the Auto Action RevLimiter!

This is it folks, there’s no more posturing and no more of the who did what to whom talk, this weekend Supercars gets to fight fair in the opening round of the season at the Bathurst 500. Who can win, who will win, we dissect the season and tell you what we think on the latest podcast.