Ricciardo remains "eager" to test new VCARB floor despite doubts

Ricciardo is one of the six drivers to win a Grand Prix in Baku. The Australian won the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, but the sport did visit the venue for the European Grand Prix in 2016. Last weekend, Ricciardo was left to reflect on the negative comments from his VCARB teammate about the new floor. He was uninspired by the changes applied.

“Sometimes you can't predict what happens on track. It might produce more load, but maybe it shifts the balance, so maybe setting the car up is trickier. And maybe that's what it was,” Ricciardo told GPblog and others. "It's hard for me to speak on. I want to believe that it can still be good because obviously the last one wasn't too good for us. I'd like to think this one is better. But obviously Yuki has the only experience with that. He was a bit vocal about having a tough weekend."

Ricciardo gets the update in Baku

Ricciardo will be able to use the update at the Baku City Street Circuit this weekend. "I’m looking forward to Baku. It’s a proper track and like any street circuit, you need to find the limits quickly. I know the team in Faenza have been pushing hard and I’m eager to try the new floor this weekend. It’ll be a good challenge but I’m confident we can come away with some points," Ricciardo explained.

Jody Egginton, the Technical Director at VCARB, expects a very busy weekend. "Our test programme for this race will be very busy because, in addition to the normal set up and tyre work which we conduct at every event, we also have a number of important tests planned to learn more and optimise the cars around the new floor package which we first evaluated in Monza," he said.

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