Winning in Canada will give Red Bull extra motivation when they race at home in Austria this weekend, but catching up with leaders Mercedes will take time, Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo warns.
Speaking to journalists at the Red Bull Ring two weeks after his first Formula One win in Montreal, the 24-year-old looked like he still couldn’t stop smiling.
“It’s sunk in now. It took a few days, but it was awesome,” he admitted of his Canadian Grand Prix victory.
Going into Sunday’s race on home soil, the Austrian-owned team is hoping to push further against Mercedes, who are leading the constructors’ standings with 258 points.
“It’s obviously exciting for us now. We’ve got a bit of steam from the last race,” said Ricciardo.
“Definitely the win gave us more motivation, not that we didn’t have it but it’s given us that extra little bit. It’s encouraged everyone to want more of it.”
After four back-to-back F1 titles thanks to German star Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull struggled at the start of the season while Mercedes took six straight wins to leave Red Bull trailing by 119 points in the constructors’ standings.
But Montreal may be the start of something for Red Bull, Ricciardo said.
“I think it’s still going to take a bit of time, it’s not going to happen overnight, the gap is big as we all know.
“But hopefully we can stand on the top step again this year and try and close them down. We’re chipping away at it.”
Not only Mercedes but teammate Vettel will be hot on his heels, he noted.
“I think it’s just going to make him more motivated so I obviously can’t rest now. I can’t get too complacent, (I must) keep pushing and hopefully it works well for both of us and gets both of us further up the grid.”
Mercedes however will not stand idly by and watch, championship leader Nico Rosberg and runner-up Lewis Hamilton vowed Thursday, gently poking fun at their nearest rivals.
“Red Bull is closer maybe by a little bit,” said Germany’s Rosberg. “I expect us to still have an advantage.”
Hamilton was more blunt when asked if he felt the energy drink-sponsored team was catching up: “I don’t feel so,” he said breezily.
Talk of any home advantage for Red Bull – which took over the historic Spielberg track, formerly known as Oesterreich Ring and A1 Ring, about 10 years ago – also left him unimpressed.
“It’s strange because they say it’s their own Grand Prix but it’s not, because their team is in the UK.”
“Of course they’ve got their name stamped on the front there (but) I grew up with the track known under a different name… for me it will always be what I grew up with,” added the Briton.
For Rosberg, the chance to put Mercedes’s rivals in their place here was even more of an incentive to win: “If you can win on the A1-Ring, it would be a real plus,” he joked, pointedly refusing to say the track’s new name.
In Canada, the two Mercedes drivers encountered power problems that left the road open for Ricciardo.
But these problems have now been solved and even the team’s rivals acknowledged they would be tough to beat this season.
“But you never know, maybe they’re fighting between each other,” Felipe Massa from Williams said hopefully.