Ricciardo finally gets his Renault on target
DANIEL Ricciardo cannot wait to get “stuck into” more after his most encouraging day behind the wheel with his new team in Formula One testing.
The Australian tapped into the speed in his new Renault to finish third in the standings on day three of the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
After having his second run in the car cut short by a DRS failure that caused him to skid off the track, it was a troublefree and far more promising stint in the car for Ricciardo.
He had jumped to second in the standings deep in the afternoon session with a 1:18.164 lap, but a late flier from former Red Bull teammate Daniil Kvyat bumped him back to third. Kvyat, returning for his second stint with Toro Rosso this year, recorded the fastest lap of the pre-season test so far (1:17.704).
Ricciardo powered through 80 laps during his half-day in the car — his most of the week so far — and was as happy about the mileage he was able to get as much as anything.
“I’m happy to get some solid laps in today with consistent running,’’ Ricciardo said.
“It’s a positive as we’ve been lacking that rhythm in the car over the last few days. We tried three different compounds of tyre so that was also good to go through and understand.
“I’m keen to get stuck into it to see where we can keep improving. The main thing was driving 80 laps, that was really important and all I can ask for.’’
Ricciardo has one more run in the car at the first test this week. There are four more days of testing next week before the season-opening Australian GP at Albert Park.
Kvyat was not reading too much into his position at the top of the timesheets, but was happy to take it. “We lacked some running on day one, so we definitely bounced back today,’’ Kvyat said.
“Now it’s important to go on working hard, without getting caught up with where we finished on the timesheets — even if it’s quite pleasant to end up where we did.’’
He might be the veteran of the Formula One grid, but Kimi Raikkonen was showing no signs of slowing down after recording the second fastest time for the day. Raikkonen, who turns 40 in October, recorded the highest number of laps for the day in his Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo (138).