Daniel Ricciardo and Renault hit the track in Austria on Tuesday, much to the annoyance of Red Bull’s Helmut Marko.
The Enstone-based outfit is conducting a two-day test at the Red Bull Ring, which will host the first two races of the new Formula 1 season next month.
Primarily, the focus is on giving Renault team members a chance to work under the new measures that will be implemented to protect against Covid-19 when the racing begins again in July.
However, it also gave Ricciardo the chance to blow a few cobwebs away as he completed 115 laps of the Spielberg track in the 2018 car.
On Wednesday, teammate Esteban Ocon will have the same opportunity as he once again prepares for his return to F1 following a year on the sidelines.
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The fact Renault has been able to test at the Red Bull Ring though hasn’t sat well with Marko, particularly given the history between the two parties.
And he made his unhappiness clear with a sarcastic dig at the operators of the circuit.
“It’s a great result from Projekt Spielberg that they rented the track to a competitor,” he told Speed Week.
“Let’s just say that it was a very generous gesture.”
Red Bull themselves are unable to test due to their engine change from Renault to Honda last year.
That though doesn’t bother Max Verstappen.
“Of course you have an old car, the tyres are not the same. I have decided not to do that,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think three or four laps in Spielberg and we’re back. We still have a lot of time there.”
However, Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri will conduct a filming day at Imola at the start of July.
