Ricciardo admits he and his Red Bull F1 team must improve starts

The Australian dropped from sixth on the grid to seventh behind Kevin Magnussen at the start of last Sunday's United States Grand Prix, and has often lost positions at the start in 2014.

This has to be partly put down to the fact that Red Bull uses the Renault engine, which does not have the same power as the Mercedes-powered cars Ricciardo often starts among.

But while Ricciardo was quick to take responsibility for the slow getaway at Austin, he said that Red Bull also accepted that it could have done better.

"If I look back at Toro Rosso, yes starts were average and I don't think I've had too many blinders," said Ricciardo when asked by AUTOSPORT about his starts.

"In the World Series [by Renault] , actually they were really good but Formula 1 has got the best of me so far.

"This year, the team has put their hand up a fair few times.

"The start is not so straightforward, the procedures, so it's hard to get 100 per cent right from the driver side as well.

"But you are normally in that 90 per cent window, which is good enough.

"Even last week, I felt it was more my fault but the team was still saying we can do this better.

"So it's a combined thing at the moment, which we are trying to get on top of."

Even though the starts have been an area for concern, Ricciardo added that he and the team are not pre-occupied by the problem.

"I'm not coming into a weekend thinking we're going to lose places off the start," he said.

"Obviously, it has been a trend more often than not, but we will keep working at it and get things right."