Ricciardo: Red Bull has ‘decent chance’ for Abu Dhabi win

Daniel Ricciardo says he wants to repeat his feat of breaking a trend from Japan by stepping on to the podium in Abu Dhabi for the first time and feels Red Bull will be in the hunt for victory after a difficult Brazil race.

The Australian driver fought back from a first-lap tangle with Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne to finish sixth at the Brazilian Grand Prix but despite Max Verstappen having an incident-free race Red Bull never looked to have the race pace to match Ferrari and Mercedes at Interlagos.

While Ricciardo’s best result at the Yas Marina circuit has been fourth place in 2014, he’s determined to break another run of zero rostrums having produced the feat at Suzuka earlier this year.

Despite suffering back-to-back retirements in Austin and Mexico, Red Bull has demonstrated a strong late season surge which Ricciardo is confident can continue in Abu Dhabi after a blip in Brazil.

“Yas Marina is a bit like Suzuka for me though, a track that I've always enjoyed and gone well on but not quite reached the podium at,” Ricciardo said. “I broke that trend in Suzuka this year so hopefully I can do the same in Abu Dhabi.

“It's a fun track to drive, I like the twilight thing and I guess because it's the end of the season it's even more enjoyable.

“We practice in the daylight but race at twilight which makes things more challenging. You generally don't look too much into the sunlight sessions because in the evenings, when it counts, the track cools down and the car changes so much. I wouldn't say they are wasted sessions but you do have to take them with a pinch of salt.

“When you have so much time away from the car in the off season it helps to sign off with a strong result as it makes you feel like you really deserve a break. I think we should have a strong car in Abu Dhabi. I said I want another win before the season is out and I think we have a decent chance of achieving that.”