Ricciardo sets competitive target for RB in Australia

Daniel Ricciardo is hopeful that RB will be in the hunt for points at the Australian Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old is taking part in his first home race since 2022 after missing last year’s event while sitting on the sidelines with Red Bull, prior to his mid-season promotion.

RB did not score points at the opening two rounds of the campaign in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with Ricciardo enduring a challenging event last time out in Jeddah.

The Australian had a lengthy pit stop and suffered a late race spin while also acknowledging that the team found “inconsistencies” with its car.

However, Ricciardo is confident that Australia will be a stronger outing for the Red Bull sister team.

“My approach is maybe this track suits us more than the last track,” he told media including RacingNews365.

“These things can also be very track-dependent. You kind of know most of the time where the fast cars are and that”

Ricciardo points out previous example

Ricciardo pointed to the Mexico City Grand Prix last year as an example of how the form book can be turned on its head in one weekend.

“I mention it a lot, but Mexico last year, we were last in the Constructors’ [Championship] at the time and I qualified fourth,” he said.

“Coming into that weekend, no one would have ever expected that. You can have a good weekend like that and OK, drive well or whatever, but the car obviously worked better at that circuit.

“So there's always this bit of hope that you also hold on to coming into every weekend. And at least I do.

“I'm always excited. I know that it's probably not going to win this weekend, but maybe we can be in the top 10 and get a little bag of points.”