Daniel Ricciardo insists Red Bull made the most of Friday’s very limited running and feels confident for the rest of the United States Grand Prix weekend.
Austin’s opening day of free practice saw little on-track action at Circuit of the Americas, with FP1 taking place on a wet track and FP2 being cancelled due to thunderstorms.
Ricciardo clocked the third fastest lap time in the morning and despite only logging 10 laps, the Australian thinks these have confirmed Red Bull’s recent return to form and bode well for the race.
“The few laps we did in the car were quite good,” said the 26-year-old. “We know in these conditions we are strong so in mixed conditions for Sunday we should be OK.
“The car was decent today in the wet. We weren’t mucking around and we had to try and get out there and go. Whether we qualify Saturday or Sunday I think we can find a little bit more.
“The car in the last few races has been better so I have confidence that even if it is dry on Sunday, we can attack straight away.
“I think we will be a bit closer [to the front] given the right conditions.”
Ricciardo could have had an upgraded Renault power unit at COTA but the French constructor finally decided not to run the new specification before Brazil in the wake of Toro Rosso’s and Red Bull’s reluctance to use it this weekend.
Both squads would have incurred grid penalties had they elected to fit the new unit on their cars, which could have proved to be even more of a handicap in the wet. Ricciardo also admits that the alleged two-tenth gain yielded by the Renault upgrade did not help win him and Red Bull over.
“Realistically, if it was a chunk like four tenths or five tenths, it probably would have been an easy decision to make. Because it isn’t massive, we need to weigh it up. It is what it is.”
“For me personally, it is the weather as well. If Sunday is wet, visibility is so hard when you start at the back and I would rather start towards the front. Even if you have less power, that over-weighs the lack of visibility. That is the last little icing on the cake.”
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