Red Bull development driver Daniel Ricciardo believes Lewis Hamilton was trying to discover some of the Milton Keynes-based side’s secrets after the Canadian Grand Prix, where he claimed his second consecutive podium of 2023.
Hamilton finished third at the Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve after losing out to former team-mate Fernando Alonso, who claimed second.
Unsurprisingly, it was reigning World Champion Max Verstappen who claimed victory, his second consecutive win at the Canadian venue.
As well as that, it marked his sixth win of the season and the 41st of his F1 career, putting him level with three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna.
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As if that wasn’t enough, the two-time World Champion’s win also marked 100 victories for Red Bull, since they joined the pinnacle of motorsport in 2005.
The Austrians were simply unbeatable once again last weekend, with Verstappen having led every single lap.
His win has seen the Dutchman’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship extend to 69 points, ahead of next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Red Bull clearly still boast an advantage over Aston Martin and Mercedes, despite both teams having introduced recent upgrades.
Verstappen’s winning margin was noticeable the smallest it’s been for a very long time though, as Alonso finished just under 10 seconds behind the 25-year-old.
Hamilton was a further five seconds adrift; however, it still marked a significant step forward for Mercedes.
The Silver Arrows weren’t expecting to be strong in Montreal, with the team having openly admitted ahead of the Grand Prix that the low-speed corners at the venue would work against them.
Hamilton noted in the cool-down room that Verstappen’s and Alonso’s rear-end was significantly better than his, and that he was losing substantial time on corner exit.
Gaining traction out of a corner is seemingly where the W14 is struggling, whereas it’s an area where Red Bull thrive.
Ricciardo believes Hamilton tried to find out some information about the RB19 whilst in the cool-down room with Verstappen; however, the Dutchman failed to “let his guard down” to give any secrets away to the Briton.
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“It’s interesting you know,” said Ricciardo during his live watch-along event.
“I see it as Lewis has gone up to him thinking he’s vulnerable and might let his guard down and try and get some information about the car and give it back to the team.
“But Max wasn’t giving him too much. It was all very blasé. I’ve been in those rooms enough times to know you’ve still got to be on it and not get complacent.”