Ricciardo: Red Bull better prepared than ever

Daniel Ricciardo has insisted that Red Bull are prepared for the upcoming 2018 campaign better than 'every year before'. The team has been notorious for blooming late in seasons in the past but the Australian believes they will hit the ground running in the first Grand Prix at Melbourne.

Red Bull have been working hard on their new RB14 vehicle over the closed season and have enjoyed some positive results in pre-season testing in Barcelona.

Ricciardo is full of optimism that his team will be competing for race wins as soon as the opening Grand Prix in Australia.

"We're certainly more ready than we were last year - and probably every year before that since I've been with the team," Ricciardo said.

"We did a lot of laps, I think the pace of the car is not bad, I think we still have some things to improve, it's normal.

"But yeah, going to the race and having confidence to push the car on the limit and to push the engine a little bit, I think we have much more confidence now."

The weather in Barcelona was not ideal last week and some laps were postponed due to snowfall, and Ricciardo admits that it was frustrating at points.

"It's not always the case, especially the last few years it's been tough for us," admitted the Australian.

"Last week it was frustrating, I felt like we were losing track time and losing testing time before the season. But this week fortunately we got to do a lot more."

With Ricciardo and Verstappen behind the wheel, pundits have predicted that Red Bull will challenge Mercedes and Ferrari this season, but the Honey Badger isn't getting too ahead of himself.

"I think we're looking okay," he added.

"I don't think we're yet the fastest car, I think we've still got to find a bit of time, but I think we'll be close enough to be in the hunt.

"I think we still do have some laptime to find, but I do believe we're in the ballpark. What does 'the ballpark' mean? I don't know. We're there, there or thereabouts."