Formula One star Daniel Ricciardo is confident of racking up more grand prix wins again this season after successful upgrades to the Red Bull at the final pre-season test at Barcelona.

Ricciardo says that while Red Bull will still be chasing the pace-setting Mercedes outfit, the new parts are set to close the gap to the championship-winning team.

Red Bull started testing slowly last month with problems attributed to the Renault power plant hampering progress but Ricciardo says major steps forward have been made in preparation for this month’s Australian Grand Prix.

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“I think we have a lot of potential,” Ricciardo told autosport.com. “We’ve added a few bits to the car which I feel are a step in the right direction.

“With some of our weaknesses from last year, I feel we are starting to iron them out so it’s good.”

The 25-year-old said he believed Red Bull had now solved the issues which had stopped him winning more than three grands prix last year as Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton romped away with the title.

“I can’t be too specific, but there are a few aerodynamic things which I think we have started to understand a bit better now,” he said.

“It took us a little while to get on top of those last year but it seems like we made a good step in that direction for this season – and for Melbourne, we have got a few more bits.

“With Renault, we are getting there. There are still some gains to be made, but we know it will take some time.

“We have definitely started in a better place this year, but there is still some fine-tuning that needs to be made.”

Now able to put in consistent long runs at Barcelona, Ricciardo is confident the Red Bull’s race pace will be competitive at Albert Park.

“It looks more promising,” he said. “I don’t think we have shown our true pace on low fuel yet.

“High fuel stuff seems like we are a bit happier than where we feel like we should be.

“We will see in Melbourne when everyone is on the right fuel loads but I think we do look more competitive on high fuel for now.”