A “mechanical issue” halted Ricciardo’s running on Friday, and the
team decided the problem could not be solved in time for any running this
afternoon.
It has been a hugely troubled week for the world champions.
After problems with the energy store on their Renault engine restricted
four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to just 11 laps on the first two
days, matters became even worse on Thursday when their newest team member,
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, had to climb out of the RB10 on his first lap.
In a frustrating third day of testing, he managed only three laps in total,
adding only a further seven laps on Friday morning.
Midway through Thursday afternoon team boss Christian Horner and technical
guru Adrian Newey left Jerez to return to England, but the issue clearly
could not be solved overnight. “Adrian’s gone back to the drawing board”,
the team’s newest member said yesterday.
Pre-season testing is all the more important this year given the radical
changes to the cars. The team have two more tests in Bahrain next month to
get to grips with the new 1.6-litre V6 turbos, but are a long way behind the
Mercedes-powered teams in terms of mileage.
Ricciardo admitted there was a possibility the issue may not be completely
resolved in time for the opening grand prix of the season in his home
country in six weeks’ time. “Time is definitely on our side still. Even if
we go to Melbourne still a bit, whatever, it’s a long season, and these guys
know how to win. I’m sure sooner rather than later were going to get it all
together.”
The other teams were able to rack up the miles on a damp circuit in Jerez,
southern Spain, on Friday. By 14:00 local time, Fernando Alonso had
completed 71 laps, and was fastest, while Mercedes Nico Rosberg went round
91 times. Lewis Hamilton will drive the car this afternoon.
Meanwhile, F1’s supremo Bernie Ecclestone gave his own condemning verdict on
what he has seen of Formula One 2014 so far, describing the quieter and so
far slower era as “totally absurd”.
He told the Daily Mail: “The whole thing with the new engines is totally
absurd.
“People want noise – something special, that’s what F1 is all about – and
now we have quiet engines and nobody on the track.”