Daniel Ricciardo has played down the impact of an engine issue that saw him miss a large portion of second practice in Canada.
The Australian reported a loss of power over the radio out on track before returning to the pits, where he would ultimately remain.
Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz claimed he heard the TAG Heuer-branded Renault power unit “burbling” down the pit-lane perhaps suggesting an exhaust issue, however, further details have yet to be revealed.
Ricciardo was unconcerned, however, instead focusing on the potential shown by his team-mate.
“We didn’t get many flying laps today but it is okay, I have been to this track before so tomorrow I will learn from Max [Verstappen]’s runs today,” the 27-year-old commented.
“He looked pretty competitive at the end there he did a low 13, so that was not bad. Hopefully, it is representative and I can join the battle tomorrow.”
The podium sitter at the last two races also sees little reason to change his approach for the remainder of the weekend.
“From the start of the season we knew we can’t win, or it is going to be hard to win,” Daniel claimed, “we still try and drive the cars as fast as they are going to go so not much changes from that point of view.
“Like damage limitation, we are not really protecting a world championship at the moment so we just do what we can,” he added,” we got a lot of bits on the car this weekend, and Max’s pace looked pretty solid today so we hopefully we can repeat that tomorrow.”
As for Verstappen, he compounded a difficult day for Red Bull by causing a brief red flag during the final half an hour due to a gearbox issue.
Though he was also remaining upbeat, claiming the team could be “pleased” with the pace shown, he was then asked if the inability to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes was becoming frustrating.
“Yeah but it has been like this all season so it doesn’t really change,” he responded. “We are mainly fighting for 5th and 6th, so that doesn’t change. We are not fighting for victories but fifth is like a victory for us I guess, so you just try to make the best of it.”