Ricciardo positive about Renault upgrades

Daniel Ricciardo spoke positively about the new 'spec C' Renault engine that he ran at Monza on Friday. The Australian took on the new unit, which was his fourth engine of the season meaning he will drop down towards the rear of the grid on Sunday.

The decision was taken by Red Bull to have a grid penalty at Monza as it hopes to avoid penalties at the next race in Singapore, where the team is expected to perform closer to Mercedes and Ferrari.

The first day of the Italian Grand Prix seemed started badly for Ricciardo, as the Australian slowed down in the opening moments of FP1. What looked like a power unit problem was actually a software issue, Red Bull confirmed afterwards.

Ricciardo managed to compete throughout the rest of the day without any issues. At the end of FP2 the Australian reflected on his performances: "It was actually only my first lap with it we had some issues. We fixed those and it was OK. We'll look at the data but I think it worked OK for us. We'll see a bit more closely but I think it showed some positive signs." he noted.

Giving the fact that he will be forced to start from the back row of the grid because of the engine parts change, Ricciardo explained his approach for this weekend: "I try to approach it the same. But probably a bit more relaxed knowing there's not much to do other than race. We did a few long runs but the likelihood of us qualifying tomorrow is slim knowing we'll start at the back, so just focus on race runs. It's kinda chill." 

Paul Athes