Ricciardo and Tsunoda performed intensive simulator work to regain competitiveness
Following a difficult run of races, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda have performed an intensive simulator session to try to help their Visa Cash RB team regain its form from the early stages of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo finished down in P13 last time out at the British Grand Prix. Before the Silverstone F1 round, the Australian had an impressive run of races, having collected points in Montreal and Spielberg.
The eight-time F1 winner will arrive at the Hungaroring where he completed his first F1 race in 2023, having spent the opening part of the season on the sidelines.
The Perth-born driver has fond memories of the Mogyoród circuit, having collected his second career victory at the Hungaroring in challenging wet-dry conditions in 2014 for Red Bull Racing.
"The week after Silverstone has been great - some time to recover, to hit the gym and a simulator session, it’s been productive and I’m feeling ready for Budapest.
"Personally, I always enjoy coming here. I’ve won in Hungary before; it was my come back race with Scuderia AlphaTauri and somehow the sun is always out!
"As a team, we’re focused on finding the best performance on a very different circuit compared to Silverstone, much slower and hotter, having a strong FP1, and pushing forward to some points come Sunday.”
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda completed a simulator session at RB's headquarters to prepare the best setup for his VCARB01.
“I spent time in the simulator last week and the team has been working very hard since Silverstone. I am optimistic that we can have a good weekend in Hungary.
"We know which direction we must take to find more performance from the car at the Hungaroring, where most corners are slow to medium speed.
"It’s always very hot in Budapest at this time of year and the track gives you no time to pause for breath as you are always turning the wheel. It means it’s going to be a physically tough weekend, but I expect we can be competitive at this track, so I’m ready for it!”
Racing Director Alan Permane stressed that one of the most difficult task will be to extract the best grip of Pirelli's C5 tyres with the Milan-based tyre manufacturer having brought its three softest compounds to Mogyoród.
“The circuit in Budapest, with its predominantly low and medium speed corners, returns us to a high downforce configuration for the race cars. It’s a demanding layout not only for the car and driver but also for the tyres.
"Pirelli will bring the softest compounds in their range and one of the challenges will be to extract all the grip from the C5 (soft) in qualifying and to keep this grip for all 14 corners in track temperatures that can reach over 50 degrees Celsius.
"The car setup will need to have a good front end for the long, low-speed corners, sharp changes in direction for the twisty middle sector, and excellent traction for the last two corners to push the car onto the start-finish straight and complete the lap," concluded Permane.
