Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo brought out the first red flag of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona this morning, as the RB13 came to an early stop on track.
The Australian had completed just four laps in his new for 2017 machine, before coming to a halt on the approach to Turn 4. A red flag was brought out whilst the Red Bull was removed from track.
Interestingly, whilst the RB13 was being loaded onto the truck and brought back into the garage, Red Bull went to great lengths to shield their machine from onlookers – what have they got to hide I wonder?
The Milton Keynes based squad eventually confirmed that the early stoppage had been caused by a sensor issue, which they would now be investigating further. This will require the gearbox to be removed, which will likely cause a lengthy delay in getting the car back out on track.
It was good to see that the team remained in good spirits however, with a tweet jokingly blaming the superstition of the number 13.
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/836142726651473921
The RB13 certainly has some interesting aero concepts that could prove to be either revolutionary or a flop this season, but having completed very few laps thus far, we have been unable to get a good indication of the cars true performance.
With Ricciardo now back in the garage chatting away to his engineers, it looks like an early lunch could be on the cards for last year’s third placed man.
Max Verstappen will take over behind the wheel of the RB13 tomorrow, and will be hoping today’s problems are well and truly behind the team by that point!
