Ricciardo not thinking about F1 titles

Jul 14, 2017 - 7:41 PM Winning a first F1 drivers championship may be beyond him this year but Daniel Ricciardo is determined to make life hard as possible for his rivals.

The Australian Red Bull star is fourth on the standings with 107 points - 64 behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel - ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The German is 20 points clear of second-placed Lewis Hamilton whose controversial crash with Vettel in Azerbaijan last month gift-wrapped Ricciardo his first win of the season.

The Mercedes cars driven by Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton were quickest in Friday practice ahead of Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel.

Ricciardo was sixth behind teammate Max Verstappen - 1.090sec slower than Bottas who later collected a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change

However, the West Australian is confident his Red Bull can battle for sixth successive podium spot, although he concedes the championship is Vettel's to lose with 11 races of the season remaining after this weekend.

"I'm still confident that we can fight for a podium on Sunday but we need to make a few improvements to make that happen," Ricciardo said.

"Seb is a good driver and this is where he is at his best.

"When he has good equipment and is in this kind of situation is when he is at his best - so for sure he has got the chance to win the title.

"I think we saw in Austria he was second and extended his lead but he was still pretty pissed off and I think he knows this is an opportunity for him to get the fifth title."

Red Bull's slow start to the campaign curtailed any genuine hope of Ricciardo becoming the first Australian world champion since Alan Jones in 1980, but the 28-year-old is determined to push the top two right up until the end of the season.

"Not much changes for me now, " Ricciardo told AAP.

"I try and maintain the level of pressure on the front guys, keep them guessing and hopefully keep on top of the podium.

"Some people talk about the championship but it's still way too early and I'm still 60-70 points off Seb, so I am definitely not thinking about that.

"I'll just keep trying to maximise and if the others want to crash in front of me they can."

Source: AAP