- Italian GP - FP2
Ricciardo not worried by FP1 issues
Daniel Ricciardo says he is not concerned by the engine issues he suffered in FP1 after recovering to make the top ten by Friday afternoon's session at Monza.
Ricciardo missed the final half hour of FP1 after Red Bull detected a power unit issue and was forced to settle for 16th as a result. But Ricciardo says Red Bull did not need to change the engine and, even though limited Friday running can sometimes have a knock-on effect on a driver's weekend, he does not think it will be a problem in Monza.
"We didn't get much running the morning, we were set aside with an engine issue," Ricciardo said. "It was OK in the end, the guys made some changes but didn't have to change the engine. So we're still good and we kept it going this afternoon. It's just one of those things on Friday; better for it to happen today than later in the weekend."
Ricciardo was pleased with the way he was able to recover from his morning setback in FP2, where he finished tenth - something he expects to improve on in qualifying.
"In the afternoon we gathered up a bit more momentum, it took a little bit of time to get going but we got it in the end and we'll be there tomorrow. We recovered well in the latter part of the afternoon session. P2 started off a bit slow but we found a bit of pace and we're in the top ten.
"We want to be further up but it's a bit better than where we were earlier today. Hopefully we can build on that. We're a little bit off [the front], but I think we can chip away at it tomorrow. The Mercs will be quick, but if we can sneak into the top five in qualifying then I'll have a good crack at the race."
Red Bull appears to have fallen back in the pecking order after surprising everyone with its pace in Belgium, but Ricciardo expects more to come as the weekend progresses.
"I think we learned quite a bit and the pace wasn't too bad. We can get more for sure, but in terms of the way the tyres are working and which tyre we need to look after the most, we understood that today. One stop is probably everyone's ambition but whether we get to that we will see."
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