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The Renault Formula One Team was present for the first day of official in season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on Tuesday where they had regular driver Nico Hülkenberg behind the wheel of the R.S.17.
The German racer, fresh from his points scoring finish in Sunday's race at the same venue, completed a total of 74 laps over the course of the day, with a programme that included assessment of new aerodynamic parts destined for the next race at Sochi. There were red flag interruptions and the team had to manage some gearbox work during the course of the day's activities.
Nico ended the day with the sixth fastest lap time, a 1min 33.624secs.
“It was a pretty okay day. We lost a bit of time in the garage in the early afternoon otherwise it was a productive day with some interesting updates to the car,” Nico said. “It looks like everything we added to the car is healthy and working as we wanted so overall we were able to improve the car and learn more about it. We've found some interesting things today; it was a good day, overall very positive.”
Sergey Sirotkin will get his first taste of the R.S.17 for Wednesday's second and final day of the Bahrain test.
“We're very happy with the new aero parts we tried this morning as they bring a tangible benefit to the R.S.17 in terms of general pace and, in particular, race pace,” enthused Alan Permane, Sporting Director. “In the afternoon we worked more on understanding tyre performance. The car performed well across the day with Nico giving positive feedback. Tomorrow will be Sergey's first time in the car with a full test programme in store.”