Daniel Ricciardo has brushed off Renault only finishing above Williams during second practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.
As it stands, the French manufacturer is desperate for the approaching typhoon to be gentle on Suzuka, otherwise the Australian would start 17th with teammate Nico Hulkenberg 18th if qualifying, which is scheduled for Sunday morning, is cancelled altogether.
This after a new front wing, designed to cure their lack of downforce, left both drivers outside the top 10 in both sessions.
“Unfortunately, both low-fuel laps were compromised with traffic,” Ricciardo told Formula1.com in the paddock.
“We’re better than what the timesheets say, and I don’t think we’re too far off from where we want to be [at the front of the midfield].
“Hopefully we can have a good qualifying and then be in a better position to race on Sunday.”
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Hulkenberg largely echoed his teammate but acknowledged it hadn’t been plain-sailing for Renault in practice.
“It was a tough Friday for us,” he stated.
“We made some changes between sessions that seemed to help. We had some balance problems with a lack of grip, especially in Sector 1, but worked through it to end the day happier.
“The times aren’t strictly representative as we ran out of sync with the others. It’s a day off tomorrow with the typhoon coming in, but we will look at everything in detail and be ready to go straight away on Sunday.”