Ricciardo: Red Bull 'a bit off the pace' at Silverstone

 Daniel Ricciardo feels that Red Bull is a "bit off the pace" to Formula 1 rivals Mercedes and Ferrari at Silverstone following practice for the British Grand Prix on Friday, citing a lack of straight-line speed as being the team's biggest weakness.

Ricciardo finished fourth in FP1 before dropping to P5 in the second practice session, finishing almost nine-tenths of a second back from pace-setter Sebastian Vettel in the afternoon as the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers filled out the front four positions.

The Australian was honest about Red Bull's chances heading into the remainder of the weekend, echoing teammate Max Verstappen's belief that the team is not in the hunt for pole position on Saturday.

"We are a bit off the pace at the moment," Ricciardo said. "Ferrari and Merc are strong. Hopefully that is not the shape of the whole weekend, but we have to try to find a bit of speed for tomorrow and Sunday.

"I hope for better tomorrow, but I wouldn’t expect too much for qualifying. For us we will try to focus on the race. If we are going to qualify on the third row, then we need to try understand how to make the tyres go longer and then we can have a chance on Sunday."

Ricciardo said that the power deficit for Renault compared to the Ferrari and Mercedes-powered cars was hurting Red Bull, with the team only making small gains through the corners.

"We certainly lose a fair bit. We see on the overlays some corners we are able to gain a little bit of a chunk, but then we lose a bit of that and more, so we will do what we can," Ricciardo said.

"At the moment, we seem like we are not on their pace. That is a fact at least today. We will try find something that puts us there tomorrow.

"Just keeping the tyres in good condition in these uncharacteristic hot conditions in Silverstone is key. If we can get on top of that, maybe longer runs, once we get into the race on Sunday, then perhaps things will come to us."