21aa051c9037b1d83a0f6552b7c470462c821261

Ricciardo expects Russian GP fightback for Red Bull after positive Friday running

19:00, 28 Sep 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

Daniel Ricciardo is optimistic that Red Bull can achieve a strong points finish despite both himself and his teammate Max Verstappen starting at the back of the grid due to grid penalties.

Speaking to media after practice two had finished, the Australian reported that the team had been punching above where they expected, with their race pace looking very strong for a fight through the field on Sunday.

"It depends if that's the real pace. If this was qualifying, we aren't probably going to do qualifying, but if it was, I think it would be a bit of a surprise, a pleasant one," Ricciardo said.

"The car felt good. I enjoyed driving today, the circuit was fun and I think with the hypersoft, when you got grip, it's a pretty good feeling.

"A lot of the flat corners on the track, because you don't have any banking to give you that extra grip, coming here with the hyper gives that feeling so it's nice. Good fun.

"We got a bit of traffic in the long runs, so we had a bit of a feeling what it's going to be like in the race.

"It's not the easiest track to overtake but we eventually got it done, so I think the race should be fun.

"I am happy to see there's some tyre deg today. If it's just an easy one-stop then it's a bit predictable, so I am hoping [it will] maybe be a two-stop, as I think that'll make it more exciting."