Daniel Ricciardo hopes the post Bahrain Grand Prix Formula 1 test will allow him to iron out the struggles he is having getting the most out of his new Renault.
The former Red Bull driver is taking part in Tuesday’s opening day of action at Sakhir, as Renault bids to move on from its double retirement in Sunday’s race.
While the team’s focus is on curing its reliability woes, Ricciardo wants to use his running to try to get himself more tuned in to Renault’s 2019 F1 car.
“The car has signs of pace but personally I’m still trying to find a bit,” he said.
“There’s a few areas that we’ll work on on Tuesday during the test, so we’ll get some more time in the car and iron out a few things.”
While Ricciardo’s hopes of scoring his first point for Renault were dashed in the Bahrain GP by an MGU-K failure, matters were not helped by a one-stop strategy that ended up dropping him down the order.
But despite that, he says the fact Renault came through the field so well was hugely encouraging.
“Even the first stint I was quite surprised we came through a few cars,” said Ricciardo, who was running 10th before his retirement.
“I didn’t feel particularly great in the first stint but relative to our competitors, it looks like we were doing OK.
“There’s a bit of speed there, but I feel a lot more can come.
“I’ve experienced more so I know a lot more can come and hopefully we can find that soon. Even for me personally, just more confidence in the car.”
Earlier in the weekend, Ricciardo had suggested he needed a better understanding of how to tailor the car for him.
“There are some things where I just need to figure out what I need in the car, as far as the set-up goes,” he said.
“It’s not just oversteer and understeer but it’s about how the car rides and absorbs bumps and kerbs and all these things and compromises.
“I would love, and in a way I expect from myself, that I should hop in and it be easy. But to really maximise it, it’s a different beast to tame and it’s taking me a bit of time.
“I did get a lot closer to it in quali but for sure, there’s still room for me to improve.”
One of the areas where Ricciardo thinks he can do better is braking – and he said his lack of confidence there contributed to his contact with team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in Sunday’s race.
“Running into Nico, obviously I didn’t plan on that, but under braking I’m not there yet,” he said.
“It wasn’t in the script, but let’s say I’m trying to find some speed in a few areas.”