Ricciardo encouraged by Renault's tyre performance

Daniel Ricciardo says that he was left encouraged by the Renault R.S.19's ability to keep the tyres in check over a long run.

The Australian drove the car throughout the morning session on the second day of testing, setting 28 laps. The seven-time Grand Prix winner's day was cut short after he had a DRS failure on the main straight, which sent him spinning into the gravel.

Ricciardo was able to bring the car back to the garage, however the team couldn't repair it on time to send him out again. Despite the issue with the rear wing, he says that he was happy with the car's performance over a long run, as he was able to keep consistent times.

"I did quite a long run, about 15 laps or something and I was quite encouraged by that run. It's hard to know too much now but from what I would expect, with the tyres over a long run on any circuit, I felt the way I was able to bring the times back towards the end of the run, the way the tyres behaved, that was quite encouraging.

"I mention the tyres but obviously it's the car, the way the car is behaving."

Ricciardo set 44 laps on the opening day of running on Monday but says that his laps throughout Tuesday were more "representative" as he worked through different programmes.

"I got a few more laps, I was getting familiar, trying to do some setup changes to feel how much front wing 'does this' to the car. But the run this morning, I felt that that was a little more representative. 

This year, the front wings have become less complex in order to reduce the outwash they create to the cars behind. However, Ricciardo says that there is no noticeable difference compared to the 2018 cornering speeds.

"It's [the front wings] alright, I haven't really got close enough to another car to know but the lap times are still fast," he said. "The front wings look a lot more basic, but there is still a lot of load being produced so I hope we can follow closer. But for a feeling, if I didn't know, I probably wouldn't know. 

On Monday, Nico Hulkenberg said that the larger rear wings felt like parachutes, as they generated a lot more drag. When asked about his thoughts on the rear wing, Ricciardo replied: "When it was on, it was okay," he laughed.

"When it broke, it's like going into the corner with DRS open so as soon as I braked I lost the car and spun. We avoided the wall but just coming back to fix the rear wing, it takes some time and you don't have a whole lot of parts at testing, so my morning was done after that."