Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull Racing can be quicker than what they shown on the opening day of practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Australian finished Free Practice 1 in sixth with a fastest lap time 1:49.782, finishing ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen. During this session, Red Bull fitted the Halo for Ricciardo to test, the second time the device has been tested by the Milton-Keynes based outfit after Pierre Gasly tested it at the post-Silverstone test, with Ricciardo only completing a single installation lap with the device before removing it for normal runs.
In the second practice session, Ricciardo was performing strong as he finished the session second, behind Verstappen by only 0.256s. Ricciardo is very happy with the performance made by both drivers on Friday, and hopes Red Bull can improve the set up before Free Practice 3 on Saturday as there’s some things that he is not 100% happy with.
“It was a pretty good day today, not bad,” said Ricciardo.
“I think on the time sheets we look good, both Red Bulls are first and second, but I don’t think Mercedes used the super soft (tyres) and Force India is quite close. I think we can still be quicker than what we showed today, but I feel like we definitely got into the right rhythm.
“No one is on holiday anymore and we’re back in work mode, the energy around the garage was good and everyone is ready to go. I think we can improve the set up tonight, as there are some things I’m not 100% happy with, but it’s nice to be back behind the wheel.”
