Daniel Ricciardo suspects sneaky tactics behind Mercedes and Red Bulls testing displays

Russell excited to get started with Mercedes

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Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he is unaware of Mercedes and Red Bull’s activity during F1 testing in Barcelona, suggesting the two giants are keeping their cards close to their chest. Yesterday, the Australian set the fastest time in the morning session of pre-season testing in Catalunya and has been enjoying his run-out in the new McLaren ahead of the new season.

Once the session had concluded, the 32-year-old spoke to F1’s official website about his rivals’ performances in testing so far.

Ricciardo admitted Mercedes and Red Bull aren’t giving anything away, as they look to tussle for the 2022 title again.

“I think I speak for all the drivers, testing you just really don’t know what everyone is doing,” he explained.

“I don’t look at the times much, but of course, it is nice to be more at the top than at the bottom.

“In any case, Red Bull and Mercedes haven’t shown anything yet, so we’ll see what happens when that opens more.”

McLaren had already amassed over 200 laps after two days of testing and consistently found themselves at or near the top of the leaderboard.

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Ricciardo, an eight-time F1 race winner, is feeling very comfortable in the new car and is aware of what further improvements need to be made.

“For now, the focus is mainly on ourselves. We have driven a lot of laps, the reliability is good and I feel comfortable in the car,” he added.

“I know our strengths and now try to work on the weaknesses with the setup.”

No team truly knows how their winter development went, as new technical rules saw everyone starting from square one.

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Aerodynamically, many of the cars have looked very different to others, showing that teams have interpreted the new rules differently, but as yet are unsure as to whose ideas were better.

Ricciardo said there is an underlying feeling of optimism about the new MCL36 – even though he is unaware of who currently has the fastest car.

“It’s hard to quantify who’s ahead at the moment,” explained the Australian.

“One of the things you want is laps and we’ve [himself and Lando Norris] had both days over 100 laps.

“We’re in a good position from that point of view with reliability, and the more laps we do, the more things we can test and learn from the car.

“I think we’re in a good place from that point of view. And we seem to be up at the pointy end of the times.”

Today marks the final day of F1 testing in Spain, before another rounds begins in Bahrain from March 10-12, a week before the first race weekend of the season.

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