Daniel Ricciardo says he is wary of the threat from Mercedes and Ferrari despite comfortably leading the first day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
None of Red Bull’s rivals got within half a second of Ricciardo’s best time in today’s second practice session. However he predicted the field “is going to tighten up on Saturday.”
Ricciardo ended the second practice session just under two-tenths of a second quicker than team mate Max Verstappen. “Both cars today ran really well,” said Ricciardo. “In both sessions we were always fighting for the top place, me and Max.“You never know what the others will do, the other two big teams, but today was good. We can find a bit more but we are more or less there and Saturday afternoon is going to be very close.”
The team’s long runs looked “decent” in the second session, Ricciardo added. “It is not everything around here, but we seem to good in all conditions at the moment.”
Red Bull were widely tipped to enjoy one of their most competitive weekends of the year at Monaco, a track where their straight-line speed disadvantage is less of a penalty.
“The intention this weekend was to try and win, and be dominant,” said Ricciardo. “Today is a good start.
“We topped the sessions, so for now we have done all we can. We have a day off, then Saturday, and I am sure Ferrari and Mercedes will start to put pressure on us. But today we did what we could so I am happy.”
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rick2k9 (@rick2k9)
24th May 2018, 18:48
Pace looks close so far. It would be great to have a close fight at the front Throughout the race. If Red Bull are better on tire wear (like they were in Spain, totally different track I know), they have a good shot at victory even if they don’t get poll.
Todfod (@todfod)
24th May 2018, 20:14
I know it’s just free practice, and that Ferrari and Mercedes will turn up with magic engine modes for Q3, I just find it hard to believe that they can claw back a near 0.5 second deficit to Red Bull that easily.
BlueChris (@bluechris)
25th May 2018, 7:15
I believe that we will have for sure 1 crash during qual so for me in Q3 the 1st time the drivers will go out will be the deciding factor in the qual… remember my words.
Boomerang
25th May 2018, 10:41
RB14 is a superior design in these conditions. I don’t see how others can compensate their disadvantages. Regarding internal battles, it’s obvious that Daniel has the edge over his team mate. We’ll see who finishes in the barrier and who’s on the pole.
Robbie (@robbie)
25th May 2018, 13:18
I not only expect Mercedes and Ferrari to be much closer to RBR on Saturday, I also see no reason to think DR has the edge over his teammate.
Boomerang
26th May 2018, 15:59
Do you have it now?
Jelle van der Meer (@)
25th May 2018, 12:41
I think qualifying will be a lot about having a traffic free lap as much as car performance and individual driver bravery & skill. Who can put in 3 clean sectors will have probably have a benefit of 0.2 seconds.
For example Max would have posted a lap of 1m11.765s had he strung his three best sector times together.
ADUB SMALLBLOCK
25th May 2018, 18:09
Mercedes seem to have a much better understanding of their car, and its reaction to set-up changes, this year compared to last. I expect them to get “closer” to RedBull AND Ferrari on Saturday. Close may be enough here, as there is so much luck here during qualifying, who gets a clean lap, who crashes, who gets caught out by someone ELSE’s crash, etc. Should be very good!