Red Bull hype rubs more salt in Ricciardo's wounds

Daniel Ricciardo would prefer not to hear Toto Wolff’s latest comments after the Mercedes boss praised the “enormous” power of the Red Bull engine.

Ricciardo’s first race for Renault in Melbourne – after switching from Red Bull – was effectively over just seconds after it started.

The front wing of his car was ripped off when he was forced onto the grass beside the starting grid in the frenzied moments after the lights went out.

Furthermore, Verstappen’s impressive run to third saw Ricciardo’s former team, Red Bull, grab headlines for its new Honda power unit.

This prompted Wolff to praise the “enormous” power of the Honda engine in Melbourne and label the Red Bull team a “threat”, according to motorsport.com.

“We saw how they’ve eaten up Sebastian into Turn 3,” he said.

“Power was enormous, and seeing them come back strong makes me happy because it’s a good group or people and they’re really decent men.

“The combination with Red Bull will certainly become a threat. The level of performance is such that you must certainly have them in the calculation for the championship.”

His comments were backed up by Lewis Hamilton who expected Red Bull to be “there with us” throughout the year.

‘Harder skin’

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul says Daniel Ricciardo needs to have a ‘harder skin’ after complaining of feeling emotionally drained after his shocker at the Australian Grand Prix.

Ricciardo vowed to change his approach to his home Grand Prix after his tilt at a maiden podium at the Albert Park circuit ended in disaster.

It was his third retirement in Australia, to go with a disqualification in 2014, much to the disappointment of his legion of adoring fans.

“I’m flat … I feel like it’s hard to get things going here,” Ricciardo told reporters.

“I’m just drained. I try and please everyone this week and don’t look after myself.

“We should be a top-eight car. Bahrain will be a lot easier. It will be like a holiday week and l can prepare properly.”

But according to Abiteboul, the Aussie may be setting his expectations too high.

“It’s not that he underestimated it, but as a midfield team we do not operate in the same way as a top team,” Abiteboul told French publication Auto Hebdo.

“Maybe Daniel will have to get a harder skin and some more patience at the start.”