After completing three of his four days of pre-season testing at the wheel of the new RB12, Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull can win races in the right conditions this year.
Ricciardo won three races in his first year with Red Bull in 2014 but struggled last season and scored just two podiums. Red Bull has warned that it is not expecting to be competitive at the opening rounds this season, but Ricciardo is not ruling anything out.
Asked directly if he could win races in 2016, he said: "Yes. It's a tough question because you still don't really know where everyone is this year. Mercedes is still at the top but whether they are half a second in front or two seconds in front, I honestly don't know.
"I feel like I did last year, we will have some opportunities, they definitely will arise at street circuits or wet races, so in those scenarios we can get on the top step.
"The two sure things for now are Mercedes and Ferrari, they are the top two. That looks close. Williams and us are more or less there, close to them, and then the rest, who knows, Toro Rosso and all the other teams, it could be pretty close behind Mercedes and Ferrari."
Asked about progress on the Renault power unit, Ricciardo said: "We got a little bit more out of it, and today we were able to run a few more settings which will be representative to what we will have in Melbourne.
"We know the first few races not to expect too much, but then we should get some steps after that. For now we are on target. It does feel a bit better, but of course there is more to come, hopefully, once we get to Europe."