Aston Martin Red Bull Racing‘s Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed his first day of running in Austria, finishing fifth and fourth quickest in Free Practice One and Two respectively.
Red Bull’s home race, held at the Red Bull Ring, consists of a relatively short lap, which Ricciardo admitted makes the times much closer between the teams.
Ricciardo was also surprised by tyre performance, with the harder compounds running better than the softer ones. Lewis Hamilton was fastest on the soft tyre, and Ricciardo claimed he felt better on this tyre too. This should make the strategies interesting for tomorrow’s qualifying.
“It was pretty fun out there,” he commented.
“It’s a quick lap around here but enjoyable for the minute and few seconds it lasts. The short lap also makes the times very close. I think this morning we may have been a little stronger than this afternoon and we still have a bit of time to find.
“We changed a few things between sessions but I think we can find a happy medium between the two set-ups. This morning I felt better on the soft tyre than the ultra and this afternoon I did a better time on the supersoft than the ultrasoft. I understand Lewis was quickest on the soft. It’s surprising but the tyres are all very close, so it’s going to be really interesting to see which strategy people go with tomorrow in Qualifying.”
Several drivers sustained damage after contacting the kerbs around the circuit, Ricciardo included, but the Australian believes that they are still beneficial in the absence of walls as track limits.
“I keep being asked about the kerbs; I actually damaged a bit of the front wing this morning on a kerb, but I think they are a good thing. It’s our job to stay off them and at least it’s a track limit.
“Some of these modern circuits that don’t have walls don’t really have a limit, I don’t think this is a bad alternative and at least it has an impact. It’s going to be really interesting to see which strategy people go with tomorrow in Qualifying.”
