Frederic Le Floc'h /DPPI for Renault Sport F1)
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has said that his aim is to close the gap to the Mercedes AMG F1 Team and not team mate Daniel Ricciardo. The quadruple world champion has struggled to match new Infiniti Red Bull Racing team mate since the Australian joined the Milton Keynes based outfit over the Winter having replaced Mark Webber.
Vettel heads into his home Grand Prix this weekend in 6th place in the driver's championship, 28 points behind Ricciardo who is in third place in the championship. The Australian has taken one race victory this season including four podium finishes compared to Vetel's two podium finishes.
However Vettel has stated that he is focused on catching and overhauling Mercedes. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Vettel said:
'It’s natural to get your a--- kicked from time to time, I try to limit them, but at the moment he seems to have the upper hand. He’s feeling well inside the car, and he’s quick. Obviously I didn’t have the smoothest season so far, with a lot of things breaking down, and a lot of things stopping me getting in the rhythm, and there’s one or two things I don’t like, but we will try to improve. I am honestly very happy for him.'
Red Bull have confirmed that they will not run the FRIC suspension system this weekend and are aiming close the 158 point gap to Mercedes in the race for the championship. Vettel said earlier this week that it would be silly to rule out challenging for the 2014 championship however, the German who won the German Grand Prix last season when the race was held at the Nurburgring could find it tough as he is 95 points behind championship leader Mercedes Nico Rosberg.
Red Bull have finished on the podium in two of the last three Grand Prix with Ricciardo finishing the British Grand Prix in third place while he won the Canadian Grand Prix. In Austria, at their home race, Ricciardo just missed out on the podium as he finished the race in fourth place.
The Milton Keynes outfit will be hoping for another strong performance in the race this weekend.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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