Daniel Ricciardo has expressed encouragement after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, in which Red Bull showed strong pace in comparison to rivals Mercedes and Ferrari.
The Australian racer ended his home race in fourth position, after sitting as high as second during the middle part of the race.
Despite his strong pace, Ricciardo required a late pit-stop after resuming the race after the red flag period on the soft tyre compound.
But after receiving a set of the super-soft tyre compound during his final stop, Ricciardo managed to quickly catch and overtake Felipe Massa whilst producing the fastest lap in the process.
“Today was fun for me,” enthused Ricciardo, who started eighth on the grid.
“At the start we were able to pick cars off. We had good pace with high fuel on the option and it was fun to be able to pass cars.
“I was sitting in a podium spot towards the end and I was hoping the tyres would last but I knew they weren’t going to hold and I would have to pit again.
“But fourth is still a good result and I’m happy we’re not that far off Mercedes and Ferrari.”
Whilst Ricciardo came home an impressive and competitive fourth, team-mate Daniil Kvyat suffered yet another mechanical issued and failed to start the Australian Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
The Russian racer ground to a halt on the grid after the formation lap, causing the field to complete a second formation lap to allow the marshals to retrieve his stricken Red Bull.
“It looks like an electronic issue put us out of the race before it started,” confirmed a disheartened Kvyat.
“The car just shut itself off – I guess it didn’t want to do the race today, but we’ll be back in Bahrain and we’ll start again from there!”
