Ricciardo pushing for Red Bull changes

Daniel Ricciardo says he is happy to "speak up and try to push for a change" following another disappointing Red Bull campaign.

After four consecutive titles, the Milton Keynes squad found things a lot more difficult in 2014 as their power unit supplier Renault struggled to come to grips with the new 1.6l V6 turbocharged engines.

They still managed to finish the campaign with three victories through Ricciardo, but this season they have slipped further back and are unlikely to challenge pacesetters Mercedes for victory during the remainder of the season.

The Australian, who is considered the senior driver at Red Bull following Sebastian Vettel's departure, says the team need to make some drastic changes if they want to return to the front.

"It’s tough. I’m definitely experiencing it now and fortunately I am a positive guy and I do get motivated pretty easily, but even for my level of positive I’ve been pretty down quite a few times this year. It’s not fun," he told F1i.com in an interview.

"We’ve got to start seeing some change, that’s it. We’re nearly half way through the year. Also last year we got some wins but we were nowhere near Mercedes the majority of the time so we can’t afford to slip back any further. We’ve got to start seeing some change otherwise I think something big has to happen and someone needs to step up and make it happen.

"I think I can make a bit more noise now. I feel like I need to as well. I know everyone's not happy where we are but me as well, I’ve got a small window of success, an F1 career is not long. So I think I can speak up and try to push for a change if I feel there needs to be one. Obviously also the senior guys in terms of – there’s obviously contracts in place for some things but if you’re not making progress then I think you’ve got to try and push the envelope a little bit.

"It’s going to be a busy next one or two months. I think looking ahead to next year, we can’t continue like this. We’ll need a miracle to stay like this and all of a sudden fighting for the win again. We do need to make something happen."