"We expected them to be there or thereabouts, but not that quick," admits Rosberg after Ricciardo laps half a second faster on Thursday
Saturday 28 May 2016 05:22, UK
Mercedes admit they will be working overtime on Monaco's 'rest day' in a bid to catch Red Bull after being caught by surprise by Daniel Ricciardo's blistering pace in Thursday practice.
Ricciardo, buoyed by the introduction of Renault's new engine and reenergised by the appointment of Max Verstappen, topped the timesheets by over half a second from Lewis Hamilton with Nico Rosberg a further three tenths adrift.
While Hamilton welcomed the prospect of a "close" fight, Rosberg admitted that Red Bull's speed had "surprised" the world champions.
"It's very simple: today they were faster than us," conceded the championship leader. "We can still turn up our engine, but we don't have six tenths [worth] of turning up the engine. We expected them to be there or thereabouts, but not that quick."
Sky F1 pundits dazzled by Red Bull's Monaco pace
While the abnormal size of Ricciardo's advantage suggests that Red Bull and Mercedes were running different fuel strategies, Ricciardo's lap, faster than last year's pole position time, will have the world champions working around the clock on Friday despite the absence of any on-track action.
"We need to spend the day wisely," said Rosberg. "Friday is going to be an intense engineering day, much more intense than a usual weekend. Red Bull were quicker than us today [Thursday], we need to do our homework well tonight and tomorrow. In the situation we are finding ourselves in, it's great to have an extra day, it gives us time to dig through everything and find more performance."
If an answer to counter Red Bull's sudden surge is to be found, it is likely to be discovered in the detail of how the new ultrasoft tyres, debuting this weekend, perform. Unlike Red Bull and Ferrari, Mercedes declined to experience the new range of Pirellis during winter testing but have selected 10 sets of ultrasofts this week in anticipation of a one-stop race where the final stint will be run on supersofts.
But with overtaking notoriously difficult around Monte Carlo's mean streets, track position is expected to be nine-tenths of the Monaco GP law - making Saturday's qualifying hour the most important of the year so far.
"All our focus is on that one qualy lap because that's all that counts around here. It's all building up to that one qualifying lap in Q3," said Rosberg. "It's an exciting challenge to see if we can extract a bit more from these tyres. We have so much information on the tyres with sensors here, there and everywhere so that we can capture an accurate picture of what the tyres are actually doing. We have a huge data gathering and that is where Qualcomm come in."
The technology giants have developed pioneering data processing that enables the team to download tyre telemetry even before their cars have returned to base via an advanced wifi connection that is eight times faster than the standard household wireless system.
"The faster you make that process, the faster you find new directions," added Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe. "In the past, to get a download you would typically have to delay your car which you don't want to do in a practice session. We may only have five or six unique runs during a practice session and this means we can make every one count."
After the unsettling surprise of Red Bull's blistering pace on Thursday, Mercedes know they have no time to lose on or off the track before the action resumes on Saturday.
When is the Monaco GP on Sky Sports and how can you watch it?
Meanwhile, the British-based Mercedes and McLaren outfits have confirmed they will adopt a position of neutrality ahead of the United Kingdom referendum vote on EU membership.
"One of our directors looked at the issue because some of our staff members asked which way they should vote," revealed Paddy Lowe. "He concluded it didn't really make a lot of difference, either to the company or to Formula 1 in general in terms of how we run the business. So we've left it to our employees to vote how they wish personally."
McLaren team boss Eric Boullier revealed the Brackley-based outfit had carried out a similar study and reached the same conclusion.
"We don't believe there will be a significant impact on the Formula 1 business," said Boullier. "The team and the industry is mainly based in the UK but we have managed always to use some suppliers abroad and I don't think it's going to change much."
Watch the Monaco GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
