F1 News

Chester on Renault

Chester on Renault

22-02-2019 19:37 Last update: 19:45
1

Bevan Youl

Renault Sport F1 Chassis Technical Director has said that “we’ve had some minor reliability issues’ after completing the first week of testing for the team.

Renault accumulated a total of 433 through the four days of testing but focused on building mileage for the cars and setup preferences for drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.


Hulkeneberg produced what was the fastest time of the week with a 1:17.393 in the softest tyre available from Pirelli from his grand total of 247 laps.


New recruit for Renault from Red Bull Ricciardo completed a total of 186 laps on track and set the fifth fastest lap time during the Thursday morning session, getting more comfortable with the car as he drove more.


Chester was happy with the programme Renault went with but talked of the minor problems encountered throughout the week.
 
Chester said in a statement on the Renault Sport website: “On the one side we are satisfied with our work this week having covered the equivalent of seven race distances, but on the other side, we’ve had some minor reliability issues.
 
“However, finding them in the first test has meant we’ve been able to find solutions to improve our overall reliability for the second test and Melbourne.
 
“With the important change of rules and systems on the car, we have elected to cover a lot of performance work to identify the main characteristics of the R.S.19 and both drivers are heading in the right direction with set-up and becoming more comfortable in the car.
 
“They both have similar feedback, which helps us push on the areas which need improvement. It’s been an encouraging week, we’re getting a good understanding of the overall package and we aim to build on that for the second week.”