Ricciardo: Red Bull F1 battle with Vettel now a straight fight

Ricciardo has taken Red Bull's only wins of the season, and is 57 points ahead of his team-mate in the F1 drivers' standings.

Although Vettel's form suffered amid early-season car woes, Ricciardo is adamant that the German is now performing at his peak and how they fare from now on is a proper indication of their pace.

"He has got to grips with it better [recently]," said Ricciardo, who has beaten to second by Vettel in the last race in Singapore.

"On Sundays my race performance has been the surprising one that has been really good, and what I have had going for me is tyre management. I have been able to look after the tyres better.

"But in terms of pure speed, he is up to speed with everything and he has pushed me down in the last few qualifyings.

"So from now until the end of the year there should not be any question marks: whoever is in front, is in front."

Ricciardo suggested that arriving at Red Bull from a less competitive team meant the reduction in downforce this year was not such a shock for him.

"It was maybe easier to come from Toro Rosso to Red Bull," said the Australian.

"My Toro Rosso had less grip than his Red Bull, so the grip loss was less from me. Adapting to that was a bigger task for him than it was for me."

VETTEL EXPECTED TOUGH TIME

Vettel said he has not been surprised by Ricciardo's form, and that his team-mate deserves praise regardless of the factors that have hampered his own season.

"I think he has achieved a lot this year," Vettel said.

"It is good he gets a lot of attention because he is doing a good job.

"He is giving me a hard time but I didn't expect anything less.

"If I look at myself my season didn't go as hoped or as I was planning, but it doesn't matter when you talk about Daniel."