Friday: Ricciardo and Vettel in the wake of Mercedes F1
With the absence of the FRIC system for the German Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Red Bulls seem close to Mercedes but beware of illusions in the heat of Hockenheim.
Sebastian Vettel (No. 1) – 6th and 8th
After a well-conducted day of testing, the local in the Grand Prix does not expect significant gaps this weekend: « I think we can improve by tomorrow. I don’t think the absence of the FRIC system made a big difference on the car today, although I haven’t really looked at the other cars so far. I believe the cars will be quite close this weekend. »
He is happy to ride on his homeland: « It’s great to race here near where I grew up and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend. »
Daniel Ricciardo (No. 3) – 4th and 3rd
The young Australian also believes that the competing forces will not be separated by performance but by other factors: « I think the tires and the weather will define Sunday’s race. Today we were happy with our progress and, apparently, it’s one of the closest gaps in a while, but tomorrow we will truly see how close we are. »
He believes that everything that could be done on the car this Friday was done: « I think we had a good car today and we extracted pretty much everything we could from today’s tests. Hopefully, we will be able to fight more with the championship leaders. »
