Daniel Ricciardo says he “wasn’t surprised” to finish second after a good soft tyre run in Practice 2 for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Australian shocked a few as he put his Renault perfectly in between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheets at Spa-Francorchamps.
Based on the speed trap data, it was thought the French manufacturer may have turned up their engine a little more than most, but Ricciardo is confident the team can be competitive.
“It was another good FP2 as has been the case for us at the last few rounds. We have to do it tomorrow, though, as that’s when it counts,” he commented.
“Today was strong, even with the issue at the end. For safety, we pulled the car over as there’s no point taking risks with mechanical issues on Fridays.
“Our low fuel run was a good one. During the lap, I knew it felt good and sometimes you just know when the car’s working.
“I knew it was competitive and I wasn’t that surprised it was up there on the timesheets. It was a good day and we certainly understood a lot from it.”
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As Ricciardo noted, the day ended with him pulling over on the Kemmel Straight due to a hydraulics problem.
However, Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul later confirmed there was no lasting effects.
“We feel that the engine is working well,” he told Sky Sports.
“Obviously there is the disappointment of the run that was cut short because of the hydraulic problem.
“But as far as I understand no damage [was done] to the gearbox, which was new, or to the engine, which is what matters.
“The car was going to stop anyway when you lose hydraulic pressure, but we understand no damage was done to the engine.”
As for the apparent pace of the RS20, with Esteban Ocon also in the top 10 during both sessions, Abiteboul believes the characteristics of Spa are favouring the car better.
“What happens on Friday isn’t always representative of Saturday and Sunday, and it’s Sunday that matters,” he acknowledged.
“We see that the car has made some progress, except for Barcelona, where we were not quite able to get the set-up, but also in terms of overall aerodynamic performance competitiveness.
“At a low downforce track, a bit like Silverstone, but even a different extreme here, we feel good.”
Ocon was also buoyed by the straight-line speed performance having set the fastest time on the run from La Source to Les Combes.
“Today was decent and we seem to be competitive as a team.” said the Frenchman. “We’ve made a good step from Barcelona and I’m happy with today’s running.
“There were lots of things we understood, which we’ll aim to put into tomorrow and Sunday.
“It definitely looks promising for qualifying. It’s always nice to see a purple sector next to your name and that shows we have the speed.
“The long runs are hard to read especially with the red flag. We might see some cars running high fuel in FP3 to make up for the lack of running.”