Red Bull Monaco Thursday practice review

DANIEL RICCIARDOFirst Practice Session: Position: 4, Best Time: 1:16.308, Laps: 29Second Practice Session: Position: 1, Best Time: 1:14.607, Laps: 40“The engine has helped a little bit but obviously we have a good car around here as well, I think it’s down to a little bit of both. Let’s see how we go in qualifying on Saturday. We are in a good position, depending on what the track is going to do on Sunday. I have good confidence with the car which is very important around here. I have always loved the third sector, I’m usually pretty quick in that sector. I am a bit disappointed the second apex by the swimming pool has been opened up, it’s less challenging. We have a bit more downforce than other cars so that keeps us a bit steadier. If you’re going to pick the races on the calendar to win then Monaco is up there, it’s so prestigious, and you can really show personality around this track. Come qualifying and race day Mercedes will turn it up but hopefully I can stay in front. I’ll be surprised if we can keep the gap we have today in qualifying but we will see how we go. If the weather stays the same for the race and qualifying we won’t change too many things. The goal here is pole and win.”MAX VERSTAPPENFirst Practice Session: Position: 5, Best Time: 1:16.371, Laps: 30Second Practice Session: Position: 4, Best Time: 1:15.571, Laps: 42 “It looks like we are not too bad, so I think it’s a good start to the weekend. There’s always a lot of work to do but I think it’s a good start. It’s good to get back in the car and this track is very challenging so that’s always nice to do. On my short runs I had a bit of traffic and also when Sebastian spun I was behind him, but these things happen in practice and of course it was a great lap time by Daniel. We are almost there, tonight I will look into the data a bit more to improve my car but the most important thing is to stay out of the walls and get confident. You have to build up over the weekend so that’s what we did today and we’ll try to improve everything for Saturday. I think the feeling was there, we just built it up lap by lap and we didn’t have a crash so that’s the most important thing. The conditions were OK, we just need to work on the car balance and getting a bit more confidence in the car and from there on we’ll see what happens. We are not too far off, we’ll try to improve our car but I’m sure others will do that as well so we’ll see.”Our Top Five Monaco MemoriesHere's five of our very favourite Monaco memories.1. That time in a Monaco far, far away (2005)Yes, the force was strong with this one. When Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith hit the big screen, a call came from across the galaxy asking the Team to join the celebration. Our very own Padawans, DC and Vitantonio Liuzzi hung out with Darth Vader, Chewie and Mr Star Wars himself, George Lucas, while the pit crew turned into clones. Meanwhile the RB1s had a special Star Wars livery to go 'pod' racing in.2. That time we brought our mate Superman to Monaco (2006)There were tights, there was a cape, there was a DC on the podium. Ok so there weren't any tights but we did give the RB2 a Monaco makeover to celebrate the release of Superman Returns. We also brought not one but three costumed Supermen in the shape of DC, Christian Klien and Robert Doornbos. And someone jumped in the pool wrapped in only the aforementioned cape to celebrate the Team's first podium, but we can't possibly comment.3. That time Ryan Doyle went runnin', runnin', runnin' everywhere (2013)When we invited top freerunner Ryan Doyle to the Energy Station, we had a feeling we'd have trouble keeping up with him. We weren't wrong. Ryan leapt over some of his Red Bull family, Matthias Dandois and Dougie Lampkin, took a flip instead of a dip at our pool, and to top things off, jumped a huge gap across the Energy Station, much to the amazement of onlookers. He even had time to give the legendary Tony Hawk a quick freerunning lesson!4. That time we let Danny MacAskill do a front flip from our Energy Station (2014)Honestly, you can't take Danny MacAskill anywhere without him doing something so insanely skilful that you want to weep. So when he said he'd visit us in Monaco it was only a matter of time before he whipped out the wheels and performed a few tricks, culminating in a breathtaking front flip from the side of the Energy Station into the harbour. He even gave the Honey Badger a few tips on swapping four wheels for two.5. That time we had you all over for a Red Bull (2015)Of course it's all very well having these celebs sunning themselves on our floating party palace but we felt like something was missing. So last year as part of our Big Bad Bull competition we invited a group of lucky winners and their guests to come aboard and attend our very first Cocktail Club. They hung out with Christian, had a tour of the Energy Station and enjoyed some Red Bull cocktails by the pool while soaking up the sunset. Nice!


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