It was a disappointing start to Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault career during first practice of the Australian Grand Prix as his quickest lap was only better than three other drivers on the grid. The Aussie was outperformed by his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who himself finished in 10th, despite missing all but 16 minutes of the session with an electrical fault. It’s as you were in terms of the top two in Formula 1 however as Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest lap if the session ahead of his Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel. Live the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship on Kayo Sports. Every practice, qualifying & race live & anytime in HD. Try 14-Days Free Now > Vettel’s new teammate Charles Leclerc was in third in only his second season in F1, while the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly were in P4 and P8 respectively. There was a touching moment at the start of the session as Haas revealed a tribute to the late Charlie Whiting, who passed away suddenly on the eve of the grand prix on Thursday morning. Home favourite Ricciardo was the first Renualt out on track but never really seemed to get going as he managed only 16 laps during the 90-minute session, whereas nearly every other driver completed around 20. His quickest time of 1:25.63 was 2.367 seconds than leader Hamilton and only quicker than Williams pair George Russell and Robert Kubica, and rookie Lando Norris. LIVE BLOG: Follow all the updates from Melbourne ahead of the second practice session Friday afternoon. Daniel Ricciardo made his first appearance in Australia as a Renault driver. Source: FOX SPORTS The only driver to complete fewer laps than Ricciardo was his teammate Hulkenberg. “When Nico got in the car, we picked up an electronic error so his car is being reset,” Renault said, before the German completed just 11 laps in total. Elsewhere, we had our first red flag of the season as Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon lost his front wing with around 20 minutes left of the session before Valtteri Bottas managed to spin off track and only just avoid the wall on the penultimate lap. FP2 starts at 4pm (AEDT).<doc-sep>While Daniel Ricciardo says he’s settled well into his new Renault team, the Australian has not found the seat in his car quite so snug. On a day when Ricciardo could only manage eighth-fastest in second practice the local lad also had to endure an opening practice session where his nether regions suffered from a lack of form fitting comfort. In the early session Ricciardo finished in P17 out of 20, with his garage having to hammer a softer finish on his seat in the “gentleman area” as the team’s development driver Jack Aitken delicately put it. “It was good to get the first day done. It’s been a busy week with a big build-up, so to get Friday practice completed is nice,” Ricciardo said after practice as he contemplates life as a likely mid-field starter ahead of Saturday qualifying. “We had some consistent running in FP2 and I was certainly growing more comfortable on each run. “We still have lots to learn and improve on, but we’re getting there. For me, it’s about developing the understanding of the car and we’ve made a good start on that today. Qualifying will be interesting tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.” Ricciardo has had a busy week ahead of his home Grand Prix, telling a Renault function on Tuesday night that he was happy to be in Melbourne, but even keener to get the formalities out of the way. “It’s nice to be here. It’s nice just to go racing again,” he said. “Yeah we drove the cars in testing, but testing is kind of, not really the same. I was happy to come home but also to go racing.” Ricciardo was not so pleased with reports about his new salary at Renault, which has been suggested is $48.95 million for two years. That would make him Australia’s highest paid athlete and third-highest paid formula one driver behind only Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who have nine world titles between them. “That kind of bums me out because a lot of people reading that will believe it,” Ricciardo told reporters. Renault teammate Nico Hulkenberg spent most of the first session in the garage with electrical issues but still finished 10th-fastest. He bettered the Australian in the second run as well, finishing seventh. Lewis Hamilton claimed the top spot in the second practice from Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, with Max Verstappen third-fastest in the new Honda-powered Red Bull. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had been second-fastest in the morning session, but suffered handling issues and could only manage fifth-fastest in the second dig. 2019 Formula One Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 33 1:22.600 2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 33 1:22.648 0.048 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 33 1:23.400 0.800 4 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 31 1:23.442 0.842 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 35 1:23.473 0.873 6 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 40 1:23.572 0.972 7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 37 1:23.574 0.974 8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 31 1:23.644 1.044 9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 35 1:23.754 1.154 10 Romain Grosjean Haas 37 1:23.814 1.214 11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 36 1:23.933 1.333 12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 27 1:23.988 1.388 13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 38 1:24.011 1.411 14 Carlos Sainz McLaren 26 1:24.133 1.533 15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 37 1:24.293 1.693 16 Sergio Perez Racing Point 34 1:24.401 1.801 17 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 40 1:24.675 2.075 18 Lando Norris McLaren 26 1:24.733 2.133 19 George Russell Williams 32 1:26.453 3.853 20 Robert Kubica Williams 33 1:26.655 4.055 -with AAP<doc-sep>MELBOURNE, Australia -- Daniel Ricciardo says it would be a pretty solid Saturday if he could replicate his seventh place finish from second practice during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The Australian, who is competing in his first race for new team Renault this weekend, overcame an issue with his seatbelt -- one which saw him miss out on valuable track time -- to set the seventh quickest time of the day. His lap of 1:23.644 on Friday was just over a second off the pace of Lewis Hamilton's session-topping time, but only 0.070s adrift of teammate Nico Hulkenberg in P6. While he does believe more pace can be unlocked tomorrow, Ricciardo says the team didn't come to Melbourne expecting to be much further up the grid, if at all. "We were sixth and seventh today, so that's pretty good. I don't think we expect too much more," Ricciardo said after Friday practice. "If we could stay there, that would be a pretty solid Saturday, but you never know, we could be quicker than we think [in qualifying]. "I feel like I can still get a bit more out of it. There's still a lot to learn with the car and still some ways to set it up and a few little tricks here and there. But then myself, I'll just obviously try and be critical of myself and make sure I can do better. If both cars could be in the top seven or eight, I think that would be a good start to the season." Renault's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo (C) talks to his crew during the first Formula One practice session in Melbourne. WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images The 29-year-old also noted that the first qualifying session of the season will likely be tight and that a clean lap could be the difference between starting on the front two rows or the back of the top ten. "It's going to be quite close tomorrow," Ricciardo said. "I feel like two tenths could make the difference with four places. Putting in a clean lap is going to be important." Ricciardo spent five seasons racing at Red Bull, winning seven races, before opting for a change of scenery at the end of the 2018 season. However, he's quickly learned that a new team environment can take some time adjusting to. "It's certainly different," Ricciardo said when asked how Renault compares to Red Bull. "I was with Red Bull for five years and [when something isn't working on the car] you don't even really think about the changes; you just do them because you know from experience. But now, if I feel something with the car, okay we could do that or we could do that - which one do we do? "It's just trying to figure out what is the best thing for this car to attack first, if it's with the front wing or if it's with the suspension. Building up that book of knowledge again. This will come."<doc-sep>
Daniel Ricciardo believes the seventh and eight-place finishes for Renault after Practice 2 on Friday is as good as he could have expected after a frustrating day at the Australian Grand Prix. FP1 began with teammate Nico Hulkenberg sitting out half of the session after an electrical failure meant the battery needed to be completely restarted before he could get out on track. As a result, Ricciardo was left to pick up much of his slack in testing different things on the car which saw him finish Practice 1 in 17th place. Live the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship on Kayo Sports. Every practice, qualifying & race live & anytime in HD. Try 14-Days Free Now > Practice 2 didn’t start much better either after a problem with his seat meant he missed a chunk of time at the start. “It was a bit frustrating,” he said. "We wanted to go out but it was frustrating for the mechanics as well. "I don’t know what went on because the belts… the measurements weren’t adding up. I haven’t got fat, I know that’s what you were about to ask me. I’ve been too busy to be eating! "It was a bit of a time delay, but I could tell everyone was getting a bit frustrated but it was good to finally get some laps in.” Ricciardo ended the day in P8, with Hulkenberg one place higher in P7 but the Australian insisted that was as good as it could have been after day one in the new car. READ MORE: SANDBAGGING? FERRARI MYSTERY AS DELAYED DAN LEFT BEHIND BY TEAMMATE ‘THERE MIGHT BE A FIGHT!’ RED BULL AND RENAULT UNITED OVER NETFLIX ‘FICTION’ MIDFIELD MAYHEM: THE SURPRISE UPSIDE TO RICCIARDO’S SWITCH Daniel Ricciardo unveiled his new race helmet ahead of the weekend in Australia. Source: Getty Images By his own admission, he was unhappy with his longer runs but was more comfortable on the shorter runs, whereas Hulkenberg looked better throughout. “I would say it’s pretty good, I don’t think we expect too much more,” he added. "I think even now, if we stay there, that would be a pretty solid Saturday. “But you never know - we could be quicker than we think. I think in qualifying two tenths could make the difference with four places so a clean lap will be important as well. “It was hard to read, the short run at the end was okay, the long runs not so good so still got some things to do with the car.” Mercedes were the fastest two after FP2, with the two Red Bulls behind and Ferrari further off the pace than expected, considering they came to Melbourne in what was believed to be the quickest car. “After today I still don’t really know,” Ricciardo said. "Mercedes showed their hand, kind of expected. They were quick but I still don’t think Ferrari or some others have showed theirs. "You look at the field and it’s a bit strange, you see the Mercedes and the Red Bull at the front but Ferrari I expect to get up there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it should be fun."