Ricciardo: Red Bull 'not looking too bad' over long runs

Daniel Ricciardo feels Red Bull is “not looking too bad” over the long runs following Friday’s Formula 1 practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, but is less confident about the team’s pace on the Ultrasoft tyre.

Ricciardo finished fourth in FP1 before falling to ninth in second practice after failing to get in a qualifying simulation lap, with teammate Max Verstappen taking P5 in the afternoon session.

While Ricciardo was happy with his pace on the Soft and Medium compound tyres, he was left wanting more from his shorter runs on the Ultrasoft compound.

“It was OK. I think on the pure performance runs with the Ultrasoft, we weren’t very good,” Ricciardo said.

"So we need to improve a little bit there with the set-up and just understand what we can do better. But with the Soft and the Medium we were more competitive.

“The one-lap performance - if we do qualify Ultrasoft - we need to improve - but we’re not looking too bad.”

Ricciardo explained how he was eager to get through practice and into the main running of the race weekend as Red Bull looks to recover from a sluggish start to the season that has yielded a finish no higher than P4.

“I get pretty bored on Friday, it’s always the same thing. I just want to qualify now and race,” Ricciardo said. “Testing, practice, it’s whatever. Like you guys, it gets boring.

“It was OK, the day, but let’s wait until qualifying, see how we go. We weren’t quick enough on one lap today with the Ultrasoft, but still we don’t really know where everyone is.

“We’ll improve a few things and hopefully we’re there tomorrow, and more importantly on Sunday.”