Daniel Ricciardo kicked off Renault's two-day test at the Red Bull Ring as the team steps up its preparations for Fo🐬rmula 1’s season-opene♎r in Austria next month. 

Ricciardo completed 115 l♚aps of the Spielberg venue driving a two-year-old 2018-spec RS18 on Tuesday, with his n🀅ew Renault teammate Esteban Ocon set to takeover running on Wednesday. 

The French manufacturer is the latest team to have conducted some track testing prior to the start of the upcoming campa🉐ign, following a similar test carried out by Mercedes last week. 

Mercedes was the first F1 team to return to track action when it undertook a two-day private test at Silverstone, marking the first time since the 🏅end of pre-season testing in Barcelona in February that F1 machinery has run in anger amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ꦐBy opting to use its 2018 challenger, Renault can conduct as much mileage as it desires, with two-year-old cars not bound to F1’s tight restrictions on running current machinery outside of the🥂 official test sessions. 

The test will also provide Renault with the opportunity to familiarise itself with F1’s strict new hygiene protocols and ꧅social distancing measures ahead of the season resumption. 

Renault has not been able 🌸to test in either the UK or France due to both countries enforcing a 14-day mandatory quaran🦋tine on international arrivals, making Austria the most obvious choice. 

AlphaTauri will also visit the Red Bull Ring later this month for a filmimg day, while Racing Point will commence a shake down of its 2020 RP20 F1 car at Silverstone on We💙dnesday. 

Ferrari is also expওected to undertake a test before the season begins, though a date or location is yet to be confirmed. 🌜;