Daniel Ricciardo offered a positive outlook as he worked with his new Renault on track for the first time in testing last week.
The Australian’s move from Red Bull will be one of the closely followed stories of 2019, particularly as the French manufacturer tries to close the gap to the top three teams.
After four days of running in Barcelona, however, Ricciardo already appears right at home in his new surroundings.
“It feels cosy. I feel like I am comfortable with everyone,” he explained. “It feels normal, walking into the meeting rooms and that. The debriefs, it feels familiar.
“The way everyone is engaging with me has been positive, and they are certainly trying to draw as much as they can out of me.”
Ricciardo’s working relationship with teammate Nico Hulkenberg is also off to a strong start in terms of early feedback on the R.S.19.
“Nico and I are on the same page,” he claimed. “Yesterday the main things we talked about were identical on where to improve the car. That’s a positive, that we are both asking for the same things.
“It is hard to ask too much in terms of testing, as it never runs perfect – or I have never been in a perfect car in pre-season,” the 29-year-old continued.
Indeed, Ricciardo had a mixed week with a DRS failure on Tuesday halting his morning early and then attention switched to shorter runs and set-up work with the Renault car.
“It was quite useful for me, just going through set-ups,” he noted. “Feeling that they actually did something to the car, that was quite positive. When a car is numb and does not respond to changes, that normally is not a good sign.”
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The seven-time Grand Prix winner is also adjusting to the new expectations at the Enstone team and the increased competition as part of F1’s midfield.
“I feel like everybody has the ability to be quite quick this week,” Ricciardo noted. “Toro Rosso – even if that was with no fuel, a 1m17s is still quick.
“It is kind of just gauging where everybody is. I was having a look on track, just trying to see little things, how cars can take the kerbs or how the traction is.
“At Red Bull, you looked at two teams and that was pretty much it,” he added. “There are a few more cars around us this year.”
