Dubai: The Red Bull Racing duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo are targeting a final flourish at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.
Always in the shadows of the big two — Mercedes and Ferrari — and with one final race remaining in Abu Dhabi, the Austrian-based team currently lie in third in the Constructors’ Championship with 358 points, while Ricciardo and Verstappen are in fourth and sixth respectively in the Drivers’ Championship.
“When you have so much time away from the car in the off season it helps to sign off with a strong result as it makes you feel like you really deserve a break. I think we should have a strong car in Abu Dhabi,” Ricciardo said.
“I said I want another win before the season is out and I think we have a decent chance of achieving that,”
“Yas Marina has actually been one of my favourite tracks over the years. It’s been a bit like Suzuka for me though, a track that I’ve always enjoyed and gone well on but not quite reached the podium at. I broke that trend in Suzuka this year so hopefully I can do the same in Abu Dhabi.”
The older of Red Bull pair has had nine podium finishes so far this season with his best efforts resulting in a singular win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He was runner-up in Singapore and also enjoyed seven third-place finishes in Spain, Monaco, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Malaysia and Japan. However, a handful of retirements starting off with the first one in Melbourne, dented the Perth-born driver’s hopes.
“We will of course try and end the season with a strong result in Abu Dhabi,” Verstappen added. “Last year was actually quite a good race after skipping a pit stop following a spin at Turn 1, it was hard to manage the tyres to the end of the race but we did it and finished fourth.
“Abu Dhabi is the last race on the calendar, but I don’t actually want the season to end. I’m really fired up at the moment and I just want to keep going. The nice thing will be to spend some time with friends and family over the winter break and then I will look ahead to January and get back in to training before it all starts again.
Born in Belgium and; to Dutch nationality, the 20-year-old has been the mainstay of the Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer team this season. In the past 20 races, he has claimed four podium finishes with the highlight being his outright wins at the Malaysian and Mexican Grand Prix races. In Japan, he came close only to be shut out by eventual champion Lewis Hamilton.
