Red Bull is fully aware its struggles this season are down to the RB11 as much as Renault's derided 2015 power unit, according to Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo's sixth-place finishes in Australia and Bahrain are as high as Red Bull have finished in the opening five races, which have been punctuated with reliability issues at Renault. The relationship has come under strain but Red Bull struggled in Spain where aerodynamics have more of a bearing.
Ricciardo says the Barcelona result, where he finished seventh, confirmed there are problems on Red Bull's side of the garage as well.
"I think we knew even before Spain but I think that highlighted it's not only engine," Ricciardo said. "I think everyone's obviously now aware of that and putting their hands up as well and saying 'Yeah, we know, it's not where it should be'. Obviously the last four or five years for Red Bull, one standout was the downforce and particularly high-speed corners. Even last year we were always pretty strong in high-speed. I thought it was our strength as a team.
"This year we're not better than anyone in high-speed, if anything I think we're even slower than the top guys in high-speed corners. So that's just one area where for whatever reason we haven't taken our normal step forward and the other teams have. We're losing out in a few places, as I said everyone in the team knows now, it's just trying to figure out why and how to fix it. But it's not just Renault."
When asked why Red Bull has appeared to go backwards this year, he said: "I dunno. I haven't got slower, if that's what you're asking! In a way I know, obviously the car they built and whatever is not working as they expected, but the ins and outs I'm not sure."
Ricciardo suggested Adrian Newey's aggressive approach to the aerodynamic package might have backfired on the team.
"I know Adrian's always trying to be very aggressive with all the aero stuff and the way he runs the car and that. I would say maybe that's a reason, but then again it's the same for everyone. I think at the end of the day we're really one of the only teams that hasn't gone forward at this stage and everyone else seem to have. We've all been given the same platform, so I don't want to sound too critical but I don't think there's one outstanding excuse. Just for whatever reason the puzzle hasn't come together yet and therefore the car is not working I guess as well as it should be."