Rivals will now take revamped RB F1 team “more seriously”

The team, which launched its new VCARB 01 in Las Vegas late on Thursday night, will continue with its most experienced ever line-up this season, with Ricciardo joined by Yuki Tsunoda.

The Australian said the move away from being focused on training young drivers for the sister Red Bull team and the arrival of major US sponsors will result in RB being more independent.

“How I feel about it is probably for the outside in, other teams or people who think that’s it’s just a Red Bull kind of junior team, it’s a way for everyone to take us more seriously,” he said of the relaunched organisation.

“I think it’s a year where we feel like we kind of stand on our own two feet, and have some serious partners on board. And I think that’s massively beneficial for us as a team.

“The structure has changed a lot, a lot of new personnel coming in, and we’re trying to really build something that’s going to fight obviously, we all hope for now, at the front of the midfield.”

Ricciardo says he likes the new look of the team, with the car livery harking back to the latter Toro Rosso days.

“From what I’ve seen, it’s cool,” he said. “I think the overalls and all that, we look good, that’s cool. And it’s a nice thing of course presentation, it’s a big thing for us.

“Performance is of course primary, and we’ll have to see how that goes on track. But we’ve got the looking good part down, and hopefully everyone else likes it too.”

Asked about targets for this year, Ricciardo said the primary objective will be to have a consistent performance across different types of track, rather than the peaks and troughs seen last year.

“We want to be fighting at the front of the midfield,” he said. “So if we’re consistently a Q3 car, consistently getting points, top 10s, not just the odd race, maybe a sixth and then a 15th.

“I think because consistency then kind of really shows that you have an understanding of the car, and the team has a good grasp on it, and that can then help you go that step closer to the front. So consistency, that’s what I’m going for so far.”