Eyeing a possible return to his old team, Daniel Ricciardo admits that Red Bull is remorseless in its quest for continued success and seeks to crush its opposition.

While all eyes are on the vacant seat at Mercedes in 2025 there might yet be another top berth up for grabs, that at Red Bull should Sergio Perez not significantly raise his game.

One potential teammate to Max Verstappen is Daniel Ricciardo, who is back at RB this year alongside Yuki Tsunoda.

For various reasons the Austrian team has been the talk of the paddock this week and while it has yet to show its hand in terms of outright pace, Ricciardo says that Red Bull's 'killer instinct' will see the team seek to grind its rivals into the dust.

"I laugh because I'm surprised... but I'm not," he told reporters in reaction to the fact that as opposed to merely picking up where it left off in November, the Milton Keynes based outfit is seeking to raise the benchmark.

"I feel it's a team that operates at its best when they're winning," he continued. "I feel like when they're winning, it's like they want to just completely crush the competition.

"It's not like, 'ok, now we're winning, let's go on holiday', it's like, 'let's really put our feet down'. So that's where I think they've come out this year. After the most dominant season in '23, they now come out with a car that I think even I was like, 'wow!'."

Of course, key to that domination is Adrian Newey, who, Ricciardo admits, is forever seeking more from his cars.

"I love seeing Adrian near the car and that," said the Australian. "And I don't even feel bad singling Adrian out, because I know it's more than just Adrian, but he's obviously a big part of it. And it's pretty cool to see.

"Whether I'm part of the family or not, I, just as a fan, love to see that kind of relentless approach and response to such a strong year. It's like you have to, in a way, admire it.

"I know, obviously, for fans watching on the couch, they're like, 'nah, I want someone to challenge Red Bull this year'," he admitted. "But you have to admire their approach."

That said, Ricciardo doesn't believe the RB20 will be as dominant as its predecessor.

"It seems nearly impossible," he said. "Because of just how many races there are, and whether you get a wet race or not.

"Look," he continued, "as much as they brought a new car to the season and I'm sure it's still going to be a race-winning car, I don't know, it's too early to be that sure that it's going to be as dominant as last year. They're going to win races. I'm sure they will. But I wouldn't go as far as saying yet that it's going to be unbeatable.

"I think, Formula 1 is too unpredictable for them to be unbeatable," he aded. "I think they'll do very well but yeah, too early to have that confidence."

As for pre-season claims that his own team might prove to be the season's dark horse, the Australian said: "I think people got excited from, let's say the outside, fans, got excited. I think they thought we were going to be a different version of another car from the past but it's not that, it isn't that. There was the rumours and a bit of excitement it was going to be, but it's certainly not.

"In terms of performance, we're as expected," he continued. "We're trying to fight in that midfield group. There's definitely work to do to catch the front guys, but that's no surprise, but I think it was a pretty smooth test.

"I don't think we leave here with any concerns or scratching our heads, I think we know where we are and we've got to keep working for here."

Check out our Testing galleries from Bahrain, here.