F1 | Red Bull, Ricciardo: “A balanced setup will be needed in Malaysia”

Preparations are underway for the next one (and last in Formula 1) Malaysian Grand Prix, fifteenth round of the 2017 World Championship. The objective at Red Bull is clear: to act as referee in the top clash between Mercedes e Ferrari, just like what happened in Singapore. Daniel Ricciardo, winner of last year's GP ahead of teammate Verstappen, had this to say about the Malaysian weekend: “I can't wait to return to Sepang for the final Malaysian Grand Prix. My victory last year was definitely unexpected. I really didn't think that our car was suitable for the track, but Lewis' failure opened the door for me. At the end of the race I managed to defend myself from Max and so I got the victory. This goes to show that you never know what can happen. Tuning is always a compromise in Malaysia, because you need a good car in the central sector, but you can't waste too much time on the long straights".

Max Verstappen, for its part, aims to redeem the retreat of Marina Bay: “Last year we did a nice one-two in Malaysia. Daniel and I had a good wheel-to-wheel battle, we gave the crowd a great moment and a great result for the team. Both Singapore and Malaysia are very hot and humid races, being back to back at least you can adapt to those conditions, but physically it will still be tough. It's also challenging for the team in the pits: with their suits they will be very hot and I'm sure they will also lose a few kilos over the course of the weekend.".

Federico Martino