Red Bull and Lotus primarily wish to finish the race
After challenging winter tests and on the eve of the first Grand Prix of the season, the number one goal for Renault's two main teams is very clear: finish the race.
Ricciardo primarily wishes to see the checkered flag.
The new Red Bull driver will race this weekend in Melbourne in front of his home crowd, the first Grand Prix of the season behind the wheel of an RB10 that hasn’t been very visible during winter testing. Speaking to our colleagues from Sky Sport, the Australian driver indicates that Red Bull’s main objective in Melbourne will be to get the RB10 to the finish line without incident: « Finishing the race would be a positive result. We haven’t yet proven to ourselves our ability to cover a distance of 60 consecutive laps. Until we do, we will always have questions about this point. »
The Australian wants to make it clear that Red Bull is not coming to Melbourne just to make an appearance, but above all needs to continue improving their car: « Of course, we don’t want to finish 15th, but I think we’ll learn a lot by finishing the race. Whether it’s on the podium or in 15th place. There is a lot to learn about the car, every lap allows us to deepen our knowledge. Finishing the race is a major goal for this weekend. »
Same story at Lotus
The Enstone team, through its technical director Nick Chester, shares the same goal. The E22’s low mileage this winter does not allow Lotus to hope for a performance in Melbourne: « Obviously, we would have liked to have done more mileage and completed our preparation program as planned ». Therefore, Lotus’s goal will be the same as Red Bull’s: « Our aim will be to finish the race. With our lack of mileage, it is difficult to estimate where we will be in terms of performance. »
New developments that could be game changers
Even before the second private tests in Bahrain, Red Bull engineers had already joined Renault’s teams in Viry Chatillon to help the French engine manufacturer rewrite its software controlling the ERS of the power unit. Lotus engineers have also come to assist in recent weeks. The goal of this rewrite: to improve the quality of power delivery from the energy recovery systems, which made Renault’s single-seaters particularly difficult to drive during the re-acceleration phase. According to Helmut Marko, consultant for Red Bull: “Knowing the potential of this new software will be a decisive factor for this weekend. For now, we will already be happy to finish in the points.”
