Red Bull ‘disappointed’ at season start – Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo admitted Thursday that he and his Red Bull team are disappointed with their start to the season, but remain keen to make amends starting with this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Australian, winner of three races last year, said he had hoped for more than three minor points finishes in the opening three races and said he and the team – powered by Renault engines — were working on improved starts.

“It sounded pretty good, finishing the first three in the points, but obviously we hoped for more at this stage,” he said.

“We’re trying to do what we can. There is progress being made and we want more each race. I think we all expected a bit more from China.

“Updates-wise, there’s not much that can happen in a week, but I think there’s more potential in what we’ve got and I think we can try to grab that.”

He explained that he and the team had learned from the poor start that saw him drop 10 places at the start of last Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.

“To be honest, Melbourne wasn’t as bad as it looked,” Ricciardo told reporters. “We had a lot of driveability issues in Melbourne, but the actual launch was decent.

“It was obviously not ideal what happened in China. After looking through everything, it was my mistake in the end, so it’s something I won’t let happen again.

“The important thing is I’m aware of why it happened, so we can move on from there. Definitely, last year, the starts weren’t the strongest on the grid so in general it’s a point that we all want to improve. I think it’s going to be better this weekend.”