Ricciardo: Ferrari pace can keep title open

Daniel Ricciardo is hopeful Ferrari will be in a position to challenge Mercedes and keep the championships open for Red Bull.

Ricciardo estimated the gap from Red Bull to Mercedes to be less than half a second. With Ferrari quickest during pre-season testing, Lewis Hamilton named the Scuderia as clear favorites heading into the first race of the season in Australia this weekend.

Ricciardo believes having a fight at the front will be better for Formula 1 and the drivers involved, and hopes it will help keep the title picture open if no one team is clearly ahead.

"It's like when Red Bull was dominating a few years ago, people wanted to see change," Ricciardo said. "For us, not being in a Mercedes, we want to see change as well. I think just to have more cars fighting for a win makes it more exciting.

"I think that if [Hamilton] wins a race against four of us as opposed to just his teammate then that reward is bigger. I think if you can win against more it's not only good for the fans but that feeling of self-accomplishment is greater. Ferrari showed good pace in testing so if they take some points away as well it opens the championship up in the long term."

While keeping expectations about his chances this weekend in check, Ricciardo insists he doesn't feel any added pressure when starting the new season with his home race.

"It's not a weight on my shoulders, it means more work for sure. This week is easily the busiest F1 week of the year for me. It's all positive support and it's quite overwhelming actually; I'm surprised by how many people are getting behind me, it's really cool. I hear ticket sales are up quite a bit from last year. I try and enjoy it and appreciate it as I know it won't last forever. It's demanding and a tiring week but it's pretty cool to see so many people supporting me and the event.

"I don't see it as a pressure in terms of if I don't win on Sunday people are going to leave the track disappointed saying I'm hopeless and never come back. They want to see me do well and it's extra motivation for me and I think the drivers' parade on Sunday I will see it and it'll get me jacked up for the race."

Ahead of his first full season alongside Max Verstappen, when asked what sort of battle he expects from his teammate, Ricciardo replied: "Tough.

"Hopefully we're fighting for victories. I think that would be something we welcome. He's fast and he's in his third year now so he's no longer a rookie anymore and we both carry a bit of experience. The team is excited to see how we go. They start to hype it up a bit and hopefully it can be hyped up because we're fighting at the front."