Ricciardo ‘believes’ Red Bull can beat Mercedes

With not many rule changes this season, Daniel Ricciardo sees no reason why Red Bull cannot pick up where they left off in 2017 and challenge Mercedes and Ferrari for race wins.

Red Bull took to the top step of the podium three times last season with Ricciardo triumphant in Baku while Max Verstappen won in Malaysia and Mexico.

The team racked up seven podiums in the final half of the championship and finished the season with arguably the second best car on the grid.

It has given Ricciardo confidence ahead of the 2018 campaign.

“I believe so,” he said in a pre-season Red Bull video interview when asked if his team could beat Mercedes and Ferrari.

“With not many rule changes and stuff, we improved the car quite a lot last year so I guess in principle we should be able to carry that over for this year and kind of keep evolving from there.

“We should be able to fight more often – time will tell. But I am confident.”

He added: “I feel there is a good intensity.

“Everyone is not getting too excited, it’s like we know we have got some work to do if we really want to achieve what we want.

“We all know we have some desires to attack this year.”