Red Bull Racing believes a few mechanical tweaks will give star driver Daniel Ricciardo a better chance to challenge the dominance of Mercedes in 2015.
Despite a potentially disastrous slow start in Texas, the Australian driver added to victories in Canada, Hungary and Belgium plus podium finishes Spain, Monaco, Great Britain and Singapore with a third place finish at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, causing Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson to take to Twitter and label the 25-year-old as “the best driver in F1”.
The Perth native hasn’t had much of a chance to pip Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year, however Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes a major overhaul of the team’s Renault racer will lift the rookie from third place in the Drivers’ Championship into real contention.
“I think when you look at the deficit in power, to be actually taking on and beating Williams is impressive,” the German told AutoSport.com.
“It is about one second that we are giving away in horsepower at the moment.
“So if we can just find some of that deficit, even halve it, then we should be able to put the pressure on a little bit more to Mercedes.”
A second place finish in the Constructors’ Championship remains on the line, meaning the Renualt engine revamps will have to wait until after the season winds down with races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi still to come.
“It is a straight race between now and the end of Abu Dhabi,” Horner said. “We still have to finish the job off on the Constructors’ Championship.
“I think we are a couple of points shy from tying up second place now.
“But obviously we want to try to finish the season off on a high. Both drivers did an exceptional job in America.
“But for Daniel in particular after a poor start, his race was mightily impressive.”
Mercedes leads the Constructors’ Championship with 608 points while Red Bull is second with 363, 125 points ahead of Williams/Mercedes.
Photo: Peter Fox/Getty Images
