Ricciardo: ‘We expected to be more competitive’

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he and the team expected to be more competitive this season.

The former constructors’ champions have been heavily critical of the lack of progress made by engine suppliers Renault last winter, and Ricciardo says that is down to frustration.

He told Sky Sports News: “To be honest, I haven’t seen anything else other than things I’ve heard or read, so I don’t know too much more on the insides or the nitty-gritty of it all.

“But I think it’s purely a bit of frustration for now. Obviously Red Bull’s a winning team, they want results and it’s, I guess it’s still very early to start talking about this.”

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey and Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul have hit out at each over the past couple of weeks, and Ricciardo believes that both parties need to find a solution to their problems.

He added: “We’ve only had one race, but for sure we expected to be more competitive coming into the season.

“I think some people felt they just had to get a few things off their chest; [you] say what you’ve got to say I guess. But now we’re at a race weekend, it’s time to put our head down and focus on improving.

“We’re in a process now where we’ve got a lot of improvements to make. Surely there’s going to be a bit of frustration there probably over the next few races, but we’ve got to do it constructively.”

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