Daniel Ricciardo admitted his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team were just not fast enough during practice for the British Grand Prix on Friday, with the Australian feeling the power deficit they usually face is hurting them a lot this weekend.
Ricciardo ended up fourth fastest in the morning session and fifth in the afternoon at Silverstone, with his morning time of 1:28.144s his quickest of the day, but he feels the team are not at the same level as either Scuderia Ferrari or Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport.
“It was actually pretty warm for Silverstone which we aren’t used to,” said Ricciardo. “I normally bring a ski jacket here, even in July (laughs).
“We weren’t really quick enough today. We will try and improve a few things which will hopefully put us a bit closer tomorrow but it seems for now quite a big step to Ferrari and Mercedes who look really strong.
“We certainly lose a fair bit of power, on the overlays you can see we are able to gain a bit in some corners but then we lose a bit of that and more. We will do what we can but at the moment we aren’t on their pace.”
Ricciardo expects to qualify his RB14 on the third row of the grid on Saturday, but the race performance could depend on how the leading teams manage their tyres the best, and the Australian hopes the race could come towards them if they do better than either Ferrari or Mercedes.
“Just keeping the tyres in a good condition in these uncharacteristically hot conditions is key, if we can get on top of that then maybe in the longer runs when we get into the race on Sunday it will come to us,” said Ricciardo.
“I don’t think we can expect too much in Qualifying and if we are to qualify on the third row we really need to understand how to make the tyres go longer and then hopefully we will have a chance on Sunday.
“One thing is for sure, it was fun keeping it open all the way through turns one and two.”
