RB F1 updates haven’t cured high-speed weakness

Daniel Ricciardo has conceded RB still has to work on finding a solution to its car’s weaknesses despite adding upgrades at the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

The Australian has rediscovered his form as of late, picking up three points finishes in the last six races after initially struggling to match team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.

His struggles led to suggestions that he could be replaced at the team, with Liam Lawson awaiting on the sidelines following his impressive cameo last season, though Ricciardo’s improvement also put him in the frame to take over from Sergio Perez at Red Bull.

Neither scenario has played out after Red Bull’s summer break review and Ricciardo has remained focused on his task in hand, which ended before the break with an 11th-place finish at Spa, which became a points-paying position when Mercedes’ George Russell was disqualified from the race for an underweight car.

It was a reward for RB, which added updates to the car for the weekend as it aims to close the gap to the front of the midfield battle, continuing a four-race scoring streak between its two drivers.

But addressing the changes made to the machinery, Ricciardo suggested work still needs to be done with inherent issues still persisting.

“I still feel like our strengths are in a little bit more the lower speed stuff and our weaknesses are a bit more in the real quick stuff,” he explained.

“I think real high speed we still got to work on a bit, but all the kind of tighter, twistier stuff we seem to be alright.

“So yeah, probably same characteristics, just now load is our friend so maybe I’ll put on some weight over the break, and that’ll help.”

Speaking before Russell’s disqualification was announced, Ricciardo admitted that “I didn’t really know my position during the race” but believed he would be on for a shot at points until Alpine’s Esteban Ocon caught and overtook him late on.

“I really thought we would have ended up in the points,” he said.

“When I had Ocon behind me, that’s when I knew I was 10th and I was like, ‘Oh, I really thought I was maybe ninth’. ‘Cos I knew that holding him off was gonna be tricky.

“He was strong all weekend. And also, he just came out on a fresher tyre.

“I think we had a really good race, I just think some other drivers also had a really good race.”