Ricciardo still hopeful of challenging Mercedes in race
Daniel Ricciardo is still hopeful his Red Bull team can challenge Mercedes in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix despite being off the pace in Friday practice.
As Mercedes once again dominated the day, Ricciardo and teammate Max Verstappen were outpaced by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull duo were over half a second off the pace set by Lewis Hamilton in FP2, but Ricciardo remains confident his team can still find more speed to be able to fight Mercedes on Sunday.
"I think we can find that little bit for tomorrow and it will be a good fight for third place," said Ricciardo, who was fifth fastest.
"Mercedes as expected are ahead but not miles ahead. Looking at today I think maybe we can still race them on Sunday, which is nice."
Verstappen, meanwhile, is convinced Red Bull will be stronger than Ferrari, although he concedes it will be a close fight.
"I think it will be tight," he said. "Ferrari is quite strong this weekend but I am sure we can be stronger.
"We are not too far off. Ferrari looks very strong as well and my fastest lap I had traffic on last corner. I am quite sure we are close. It will be an exciting qualifying tomorrow."
The Dutch driver said he would have matched Vettel's lap if not for traffic on his flying lap.
"You can see Ferrari is 0.25 seconds off and I am pretty sure we can do that as on my fastest lap I got blocked," he added. "I lost two or three tenths there. We are not too far off."
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble
Don’t miss our Abu Dhabi GP video preview…
Share Or Save This Story
Alpine becomes Pramac's main partner in MotoGP
Liberty Media's $4bn MotoGP deal facing EU probe
Ocon wants answers to understand pace slump against Alpine team-mate
Daniel Ricciardo reflects on the emotional toll of highs and lows of F1: 'A lot of days hurt'
Daniel Ricciardo explains how his iconic F1 shoey celebration first began
Daniel Ricciardo on how he knew time was right for F1 exit: "Grateful" Racing Bulls made the call
Who will replace Max Verstappen as F1’s megastar?
Gianpiero Lambiase exit sparks Red Bull warning from Karun Chandhok
Lambiase’s move to McLaren makes sense - but Red Bull faces another big hole to fill
Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch spat
HRC pausing Acura factory GTP program in IMSA after 2026 as part of expanded IndyCar effort
The good, the bad and the ugly from Cadillac’s F1 debut
Shane van Gisbergen to run NASCAR Truck race at Watkins Glen
The worst title defences in F1 history
How to make F1's 2026 rules simpler - and why Christian Horner was half-right
The big Stefano Domenicali interview – on the 2026 rules, Max Verstappen and F1’s future
Are F1's technical changes for Miami enough to ease 2026 concerns?
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments