© Getty Images
Daniel Ricciardo admits there is no way of sugar coating the extent of Mercedes’ advantage heading into the 2015 season and says the likes of Red Bull need to catch up for the good of the sport.
The competitive order in pre-season testing had a familiar feel as Mercedes appeared to maintain the large advantage it held at the end of last season.
“Mercedes looked to be fast – I won’t sugar coat it, they will be very hard to beat at least for the first few races from what it looks like,” Ricciardo said. “But you never know, hopefully we get a pleasant surprise.
“Behind them it’s pretty close. I think with us, Ferrari, Williams we all look to be next in line. So I think if we put it all together we can definitely fight for at least that last spot on the podium this weekend and we’ll see; try to apply as much pressure to the Mercs as possible.
“But it’s still early days and nobody has really been on track at the same time with the same tyre and the same tyre and all that yet. Until Saturday we’re not really going to know but I’ll definitely be doing what I can to get it as far up the grid as possible.”
