Daniel Ricciardo believes there will be less of a “silly season” regarding Red Bull’s power unit supply this year after being surprised by Renault.
Last year saw Red Bull threaten to quit F1 as it demanded a more competitive power unit following a disappointing season with Renault. However, with the French manufacturer also returning as a full constructor in F1, it has already delivered a step forward with the power unit which was highlighted by Red Bull’s pace in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Asked if he has been surprised by the performance from the power unit at the start of the season, Ricciardo replied: “Yes, I would say so.
“This part of the year, yes, we didn’t expect, the power unit now, we didn’t expect it to be that different to how we ended last year. Up until the update we get in Montreal we expected it to be pretty similar, but it seems like the changes that they did make have given us a bit more.
“That is cool, so yes, it is given us a bit more than we thought for now. As long as the updates give us what we then do expect we will be looking pretty good.”
And Ricciardo admits the progress so far makes it more likely Red Bull will look to retain Renault as its power unit supplier.
“I think so. It is definitely not unlikely now. Again, if we do get what we hope or what we see from the update it should put us on a Ferrari power unit level, which is sure competitive enough for the team and the chassis we have. So we might not have that much of a silly season with the power unit as we did last year.”
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