Ricciardo feeling 'pretty good' despite Renault wing failure

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Daniel Ricciardo has been encouraged by his initial runs onboard Renault's R.S.19 despite a mechanical mishap on Tuesday morning.

The Aussie suffered a rear wing failure on his Renault earlier today while he was travelling down the Circuit de Catalunya's main straight.

The R.S.19 flew off the track and in the gravel trap but avoided hitting the barriers. Renault was able to repair its charger but Ricciardo's morning programme was disrupted by the incident.

"When it (the rear wing) broke, it felt like going into the corner with DRS open," said Ricciardo.

"As soon as I braked I lost the car and spun. I avoided the wall but coming back in to fix the wing and all that, it takes some time and parts. Not a whole lot of parts at testing either so that was my morning done.

"Nico should be good to go for 2 o’clock today and I know they’ve a lot of laps planned for him so hopefully all goes well and he gets more feedback.

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Despite being deprived of precious track time, Ricciardo had no major issues to report. Renault's new recruit insisted however that it was still early days.

"To be honest we're still running everything pretty conservative so we're not up to what we'll have in Melbourne, it's about being safe," he explained.

"It all feels pretty good for now, I don't have any concerns from that.

"I only really did one proper long run this morning and that one was pretty encouraging. Just the way the car responded and the way we used the tyres.

"The behaviour and the characteristics were encouraging at this stage."

©Renault

Ricciardo was also complimentary of his car's behavior on long runs and how it managed its tyres.

"The way the car used the tyre on the long run was pretty encouraging," he said.

"It didn’t feel like it was going to fall off a cliff and that I killed them and that’s the closest thing I have now.

"We haven’t done low fuel running yet but long run, tyre wear, tyre usage and all that…we’re in the ballpark."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.