Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda will benefit from an extensive update to their RB 01 at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The team will bring an extensive aerodynamic update for both cars to the ninth round of the championship, which begins a row of three consecutive events.
“A significant amount of work was put in by Faenza and Bicester to prepare and deliver an aerodynamic update consisting of a floor, bodywork and rear wing for both cars, to provide a measurable performance benefit,” said the team’s technical director Jody Egginton.
“As a result of having this update, the Friday sessions will be especially busy, in order to gather and process as much data as possible and get ready for Saturday onwards.”
RB lie sixth in the constructors’ championship, 30 points behind Aston Martin, but lost 10 points to them at the last round in Canada. Ricciardo gave the team its best starting position for a grand prix so far this year with fifth place at Montreal, but his race was compromised when a creeping clutch led to him receiving a five-second time penalty for jumping the start.
“Recent results have been reasonable and we have been scoring points,” said Egginton. “However, the midfield battle is incredibly tight and we are under no illusion that we must deliver well-executed events to be towards the front of this group with a chance of scoring points.”
Tsunoda, who scored the majority of RB’s points so far this year said their car “seems to perform well at all tracks” and has “no concerns on the performance side” for this weekend.
“The key will be to get a good understanding of how our package is working at this track as soon as possible during free practice and then get the most out of it.”
Ricciardo did not participate in this race last year, so this weekend will be his first experience of the revised final sector at the Circuit de Catalunya. The original final corners were restored last year, removing the low-speed chicane which was installed in 2007 on safety grounds.
“I’m excited to drive it with the faster last sector that they changed for last year,” said Ricciardo. “I’m looking forward to getting back on that track. Normally, it’s quite familiar but we didn’t do any testing there this year, so it should be fun.”
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2024 Spanish Grand Prix
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