Red Bull Charge Ahead With Chassis, Engine Upgrades

Lots of catching up to do


10 December 2018

3 races into the season and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull team sit 55 points adrift of championship leader Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo is 6th in the drivers standings behind team-mate Max Verstappen.

Whichever way you read the numbers, it's clear Red Bull has a lot of work to do to catch up to the pace-setting Ferraris and Mercedes.

But are the team resting on their laurels?

Nope.

Far from it.

A massive chassis overhaul is coming for next month's Spanish Grand Prix while engine supplier Renault's got on top of its early reliability problems.

"We are working day and night to pick up our shortcomings," said Red Bull spokesman Helmut Marko.

"We are pretty optimistic that we will make a significant step forward in Barcelona where a big change of parts is coming."

While Barcelona will see more keenly tuned aerodynamics on the Red Bull, the team will have to wait a little longer until the Canadian Grand Prix for the engine updates.

Daniel Ricciardo says one area of particular concern is the Red Bull's ability to get up to speed on softer tyres.

"When you look at a Mercedes or a Ferrari, we could just say they are able to get their tyres working well because they have got a lot more downforce and they are generating more [temperature] through the tyre," said the Australian.

There might be more than a few long nights at the team's hub in Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom ahead of the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi at the end of the month.