Tyre degradation will decide Red Bull progress – Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says he and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen could finish anywhere from inside the top five to outside the points places starting from the back of the grid at the Russian Grand Prix with its chances dictated by Pirelli tyre performance.

Both Red Bull drivers picked up back of the grid penalties for engine changes ahead of the Russian race with the team opting to take the heavy penalties at a race less fancied compared to upcoming rounds where it expects to be stronger.

Having effectively missed the competitive running in qualifying, Ricciardo accepts his progress through the field will largely depend on how the Pirelli tyres behave on the Sochi circuit surface.

Pirelli provided the same tyre options last time out in Singapore which saw the softest option - Hypersoft - produce high degradation compared to the Ultrasoft and Soft. Both Red Bull cars will have a free choice of tyre to start on after exiting qualifying in a confusing Q2 session where the bottom five drivers all opted not to set times.

“We could end up in the top five or scrapping outside the top 10,” Ricciardo said. “I really don’t know. I am more optimistic that we can get a good bag of points but it really depends how the tyres handle.

“Yesterday there was a lot of degradation. The temperature tomorrow will be a lot hotter than Friday, so it is going to change a lot. We’ll find out, but I’m convinced it is not going to be an easy one stop and a boring race. There is going to be a lot going on.

“In the GP3 race this morning there was a lot of tyre deg. It was actually pretty good to watch, so hopefully it is a sign of things to come for us.”

Ricciardo’s teammate Verstappen remains optimistic of carving through the F1 grid but has already accepted challenging the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari won’t be possible given the gap created starting at the back of the grid.

“The feeling in qualifying was extremely good, so we just have to make sure we have a clean race tomorrow,” Verstappen said. “A good tyre strategy, keep the tyres alive, and we should get back to fifth or sixth as a team.”