Barcelona Testing – Daniel Ricciardo is not worried about the engine issue he suffered on the first day of pre-season testing.
The Australian was kept in the garage for most of the morning session with a crankshaft and battery issue on his Red Bull. He stopped on track after just four laps of running.
“[We’re] not worried. It obviously would have been nice to do more laps this morning but the main issue was that it was for safety measures,” he said.
“Let’s say we stopped running because of some sensor things and they’re giving us warnings. I guess from the engine side we’re playing it a bit safe and making sure we don’t do damage on day one.”
Ricciardo managed to complete 50 laps during the remainder of the day, and set the fifth quickest time on the soft tyre.
“The afternoon was better. We still had a few little issues early in the afternoon but the last two hours was more like a test and I was in the car for most of it which was good. It was nice to end the day on a bit of a positive.
“I think there’s still a lot more to come from the cars. The track feels cold and the tyres are still probably not in their optimum temperature.
“The soft was better than the medium but I think it’s still really cold for that tyre. I feel like it wants to give you the grip but it’s not giving what I believe it can.”
Max Verstappen will take over from Ricciardo on Tuesday for his first las in RB13.
