Breaking news
Formula 1 Japanese GP
Red Bull faces Suzuka downforce dilemma - Ricciardo
Red Bull faces a downforce settings dilemma for the Japanese Grand Prix, reckons Daniel Ricciardo.
Matt Beer
Edited: Oct 6, 2017, 8:53 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
A winner on merit with Max Verstappen a week ago at Sepang, Red Bull was in the mix with Ferrari and Mercedes again in Friday morning's dry practice session at Suzuka.
But Ricciardo, who was third-fastest and 0.375 seconds off Sebastian Vettel's pacesetting Ferrari, believes that speed is potentially being achieved with too much downforce.
Red Bull already struggles for straight-line performance in qualifying because Renault cannot turn its engine performance up as much as Mercedes and Ferrari on Saturdays, and running too much downforce would also leave Red Bull vulnerable to being overtaken easily in the race.
"Our pace was pretty good, but we still need to find a good compromise with the downforce we are going to run here," said Ricciardo. "We were relatively close to Mercedes and Ferrari, so not a bad day.
"But we know they will always go a lot quicker so we need to find a few more tenths if we want to battle with them in the dry on Sunday.
"I think we were losing a lot on the straight and I don't think it was just engine today.
"It looked like we had more downforce so we need to see if this is the best thing for us, or if we can find a better compromise with the corners and then the straights.
"Come Sunday, we will do what we can, but hopefully it is a position we can fight for at least a podium."
Verstappen said he ended Friday with "a pretty good feeling" and believing Red Bull is "quite competitive".
He admitted the disruptions of Carlos Sainz's heavy crash in the morning and the rain in the afternoon made the day hard to judge.
"Mercedes looks a little bit stronger at the moment, Ferrari I don't know as they didn't do a proper long run," he said. "But we are close."
Vettel expects three-way fight
Vettel said he arrived at Suzuka expecting to have to take on both Red Bull and Mercedes.
"It's not a duel anymore, it's three teams fighting. It makes it interesting for us," he said.
Ferrari had set the pace in practice before engine problems wrecked its weekend in Malaysia last week, and Vettel was again encouraged by his car's practice speed in Japan.
"It was a decent morning," he added. "We tried to do a lot of things. The car was behaving well right from the start. It looks like everything is on plan."
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble and Lawrence Barretto
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Japanese F1 GP: Lewis Hamilton fastest out of five in rain-hit FP2
Next article Hamilton says Mercedes car "back to normal" at Suzuka
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Matt Beer
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Ferrari drivers escape punishment for clash
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Hamilton accepts full responsibility for Albon collision
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
Nov 17, 2019
Vettel, Leclerc called to stewards over accident
More from
Sebastian Vettel
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC 16 d
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
Formula 1
Formula 1 17 d
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
More from
Red Bull Racing
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
Formula 1 1 d
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Latest news
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
MotoGP
Qatar GP
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
2 h
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Turkish GP
3 h
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 20 h
The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe