Daniel Ricciardo has declared Friday’s running for the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix as a “day of two halves” after the Australian recovered from a crash in FP1 to finish second in the afternoon’s practice session.
Ricciardo was one of many drivers to explore the gravel traps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya gusting tail winds played havoc. Ricciardo though, came of worst of all, getting caught out at turn four and making contact with the wall.
“It was a day of two halves. The car felt pretty different this afternoon and I think that showed,” said Ricciardo. “The mistake in to Turn 4 this morning was a costly one and I missed the final hour of the session because of it.
“Tail winds are a big thing in F1 and in any corners with a tail wind you lose a lot of rear grip. Turn 4 is a bad corner to have a tail wind and it caught me and a few others out.
“Of course you don’t want to crash but if I’m trying to find a silver lining, then FP1 is probably the best time to do it. FP2 is the one where you do your Race and Qualifying simulations.”
Ricciardo put the incident behind him and in practice two set a time of 1:18.392, a time only beaten by Lewis Hamilton. The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver is aware of the usual focus on aerodynamics in Spain but points once again to tyre choice being key.
“We got our heads down and put the laps in this afternoon, which was important with the updates to the car,” said Ricciardo. “There are quite a few aerodynamicists here today so we needed the laps to give them as much feedback as possible.
“On the soft tyre we were quite fast, we didn’t really get the supersoft working which I don’t think many people did and it looks like it will be a tricky tyre this weekend. At the end with high fuel I think we were ok but I’m sure we can still be better.
“We have found some pace, there is still a bit more to find, but overall a pretty good end to a Friday.”
