Daniel Ricciardo expressed satisfaction as he picked up his first points with Renault courtesy of seventh place at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Ricciardo failed to reach the finish in either Australia or Bahrain as his Renault career got underway in disappointing fashion.
But in China Ricciardo qualified as the lead midfield runner and converted his position in race trim to take seventh.
“It feels good,” he said. “Probably just for my guys in the garage as well – we hadn’t seen a chequered flag yet.
“So for them a couple high fives going around. So it is good that they can fly home with a smile on their face.”
Ricciardo had spoken earlier in the weekend of taking a simpler approach to the build-up, rather than trying to be “too clever”, following a discussion with his engineers after the Bahrain event.
When asked whether that tweaked approach had paid off, Ricciardo said: “I think so. It always helps when P1 goes smooth and sometimes I don’t know if that is luck or good preparation prerace.
“But the set-up was there and we didn’t really have to change too much through the weekend, I felt like I could just build on myself as opposed or learning the car by changing this and that.
“Some of those things we learned from the test in Bahrain – hanging back for that was positive.”
Ricciardo’s result lifted Renault to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, equal on points with Alfa Romeo but ahead on countback.
