- Australian GP - FP2
Ricciardo sure engine can be saved
Daniel Ricciardo does not think the engine change which saw him sit out of FP2 in Australia will have affect him in the long term.
A problem with the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) forced Red Bull to change the power unit in Ricciardo's car on Friday afternoon. With drivers limited to just four engines this season it is hardly an ideal start to the season but Ricciardo is optimistic the faulty engine can be salvaged.
"We've got some stuff going on," Ricciardo said. "It's pretty complex with the ICE we need to fix for tomorrow but we didn't have time to do it today. We just had an engine change. We had some issues this morning so just didn't get enough time to get everything sorted for P2. Instead of rushing it was a case of just fix it properly so we can get back out there tomorrow.
"There's definitely a lot of time to do it. There's no time concern about tomorrow. It was a job not worth rushing just to get five laps this afternoon as that was a long shot anyway. We don't believe it will affect one of the four engines, so it's not a massive shot in the foot."
The Australian admits it's a frustrating way to start the season and his home grand prix but takes comfort in the fact team-mate Daniil Kvyat had a clean FP2.
"The whole week's been a bit of a tease. Talked a lot about racing and haven't done much of it, today was my chance to do a few more laps but we've got the next two days.
"It certainly helps Kvyat had a pretty smooth session in terms of laps and reliability so I'll listen in on the meeting to hear what Danny and his engineers learnt. I'll try and put all of that together for tomorrow and try and fast-track our work but obviously its nicer having two people on track."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
