The Red Bull RB14 made its on-track debut at a filming day at Silverstone yesterday. Daniel Ricciardo took the honours behind the wheel, completing a number of laps in damp conditions.
“It’s always exciting to drive the car for the first time. It sounds a bit different, obviously looks a bit different – actually, it looks cool. It’s cold, it’s pretty miserable today at Silverstone but it’s nice to be out there.”
“First cobwebs shaken out and I’m ready to go to Melbourne”, Daniel Ricciardo commented following his day in the RB14
“It’s hard to tell from a couple of laps but the initial feeling in the car is good. I can already feel that the rear feels pretty settled, even in these poor conditions. Those are encouraging early signs. So far I can see fine with the halo. I’d only done a couple of installs with it before so it was pretty new today but I really didn’t notice it was there, which is pretty good. Honestly, unless there’s stuff above, I don’t see any issues at all on a flat track.”
“It’s been a long day, trying to get everything going and complete the filming – but a lot better to have that here than in Barcelona.”
The Australian driver had an accident with the car. There were some damages on the front wing, nose and floor.
Loosened everything up today in the new RB14 running the one off paint scheme. The break was too long so enjoyed putting the helmet back on ??? pic.twitter.com/Gc4ZHOwHc1
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) February 19, 2018
Max Verstappen was also on the circuit to see the RB14 take to the track for the first time
“I think the car looks very aggressive and, actually, the livery I really, really like”, he said. “It’s always better to drive the car, of course, and I can’t wait to drive the RB14 in Barcelona. I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully, it will be dry.”
Loving the new livery ? #RB14 pic.twitter.com/NzWn5ddBVO
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) February 19, 2018
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner was pleased to see the RB14 turn a wheel for the first time. He explained the change in the car’s livery.
“Knowing we were running all of our development and processes earlier to meet this early launch, we felt that ‘shift’ had to be reflected in the livery, hence the ‘digital disruption’ you saw on the RB14 at Silverstone. It was good to have got the first few laps of 2018 under our belts and now we look forward to the first test in Barcelona next week”, Horner said.
