Red Bull’s lead driver Daniel Ricciardo is confident that his team will once again be challenging for Grand Prix victories this year despite the ominous testing form of reigning champions Mercedes.

Although Ricciardo propped up the times on the third day of testing at Barcelona, as Mercedes topped them again, he is encouraged by his pace on high fuel loads and the amount of mileage the team has achieved compared to this time last year.

“We’ve definitely got a lot of potential,” he said. “We’ve got to pull-in those silver cars. We’ve not shown our true pace on low fuel, but we’re happier with the high fuel stuff; it looks more promising. I think we do look more competitive on high fuel for now.

“We had a few little bits on it today that I feel are a good step in the right direction, with some of our weaknesses from last year I think we’re starting to iron them out. So that’s good.

“A few aerodynamic things we’ve started to understand a bit better now, it took us a little time last year, but it seems like we’ve made a good step for this season, and we’ve got a few more bits to come for Melbourne, so fingers crossed they keep pushing us in that direction.”

Still hoping for more from Renault

Ricciardo is still hoping for more power and driveability from his Renault V6 hybrid turbo engine, as the clock ticks down to the season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne.

“With Renault, we’re getting there,” he said. “There’s still some gains to be made, for sure, but we know these will take a little time so we’ll do what we can for now.”

“We made some improvements today, but there’s still some more to be made. Last year, it took a while to get it where we want it, but we’re starting from a better place this year, but there’s still some fine-tuning to be made.”