Nick Chester was pleased with the progress made by the Renault Sport Formula One Team during the penultimate day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday, with Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. completing a total of one hundred and forty-eight laps between them.
The technical director of the Enstone-based team revealed they got good feedback and data from a new front wing they’ve brought to the R.S.18, and combined with the knowledge obtained by testing with Pirelli’s three softest compounds for the first time, it was a very productive day in Spain.
“Today we made decent progress with set-up and gained a good understanding of our latest front wing,” said Chester. “We had a first taste of the softer tyres in Pirelli’s range, in Super, Ultra and Hypersoft flavours.
“The Hypersoft is certainly a big step from the rest of the range, with a big jump in lap time and grip, as well as being more durable than we expected. It will be interesting to see how this tyre will be deployed over the season.
“Once more we completed a decent tally of laps so we have plenty to be working on ahead of the final day of testing.”
Renault will once again split the driving duties between their drivers on Friday for the final day of pre-season testing before the season gets underway in Australia at the end of the month, with Sainz driving in the morning before handing over to Hülkenberg.
