Ricciardo wary of Ferrari’s early pre-season pace

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that he is wary of the pace that Ferrari showed in the first F1 pre-season test, but is reserving judgement until the opening race of the year next month.

Today marks exactly one month to the first race of the 2015 season in Melbourne, Australia, and the early signs from testing in Jerez are that Ferrari has made a step forwards from last year after finishing as the quickest team in Spain.

Red Bull, on the other hand, finished towards the bottom of the timesheets, although it did complete far more running than in the first test in 2014 – a fact Ricciardo found some comfort in.

“At the first test you worry about yourself, but of course we’re aware of the laps Mercedes did and the lap time Ferrari put down,” he told Keeping Track, the official podcast of the Australian Grand Prix.

“We expect nothing less of Mercedes to be honest, but Ferrari look like they came out pretty strong. For now they look good, but it’s still early, and are they going to be the same once we’re racing in race conditions?

“For us, it was a lot better than last year, but we’re still trying to find our feet. But we know we have time on our side, and we’re pretty quick at turning it around.”

With one month to go, Ricciardo admitted that he is excited to get back in action, particularly in front of his home fans at Albert Park.

“I’m hanging out to race,” the Australian said. “Four weeks can’t come soon enough.

“Last year, coming into it, there was less expectation after our pre-season. This year it’s a bit more exciting. If we’ve got the car on Sunday, then I believe I can get it far up the grid.”

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