Red Bull head home early from Jerez

Red Bull have decided to pull out of the final afternoon of this week’s Jerez test after Friday morning brought more frustration for the world champions and their new car. Daniel Ricciardo completed just seven laps in the RB10 before being halted by a mechanical issue.

It means Red Bull end the first pre-season test of 2014 having run just 21 laps over four days with their Renault-powered machine, with eight days of testing - all in Bahrain - remaining before the opening Grand Prix of the year in Australia in six weeks’ time.

“It's been a very difficult test,” said team principal Christian Horner. “We have had numerous Renault issues as well as chassis cooling issues, which have affected our progress.

“However, despite the lack of mileage, what we have managed to learn shows that the problems should be solvable for the next test in Bahrain. Part of the purpose of this early test was to learn about any issues ahead of the start of the season and there will now be a lot of focus on the dyno over the next few weeks.”

Commenting on Friday morning’s running, Red Bull’s race engineering co-ordinator Andy Damerum said: “We did seven laps and every time Daniel went out we made improvements to the control of the engine. We were also making fixes to the issues that have arisen from our side and we have made progress there.

"However, we then discovered a mechanical issue with the car and after investigation it became clear we would not be able to fix this in time to run in the afternoon, so the decision was taken to retire early, take the data we have amassed and work towards the next test in Bahrain.

“Two weeks is a long time in Formula One and we and I’m sure Renault will work flat out now to solve the problems we’ve been having.”

The second pre-season test in Bahrain takes place on February 19-22.