Ricciardo claims Red Bull started 2018 car design early

  • Published on 19 Oct 2017 10:16
  • comments 1
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull got an early start with the design of its car for 2018. Many were surprised when, despite the big regulations change, Red Bull began this season clearly behind F1's top two teams Mercedes and Ferrari.

But the former champions have caught up through the year, with Australian Ricciardo and his teammate Max Verstappen each winning a race: "Of course, it's nice that we got better during the season," he said. "But we have to make sure we are not so far behind at the start of the season."

"I feel that our starts are always a bit slow -- that's certainly been the case since I started to drive for Red Bull. But a lot is going to change now. We always thought we started building the car early enough, but maybe it wasn't enough," he said.

"That is why we started even earlier this year. Hopefully, we can fight for the title right from the first race in Melbourne. Mercedes has been winning too much and we want to change that."

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  • Probably a wise choice. Red Bull need that if they want to be competitive against the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes. I think Ferrari could be in for a slower year next season, now that they are burning so much fuel on this season, but I hope Im wrong. Mercedes will certainly still be the team to beat next year, we can all count on that next year's Merc' will be lighter and much faster.

    • + 0
    • Oct 20 2017 - 17:45

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  • Date of b. Sep 30 1997 (27)
  • Place of b. Hasselt (Belgie), Netherlands
  • Weight 70 kg
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