Ricciardo gets Renault boost for Melbourne

Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo’s Melbourne hopes got a boost on Wednesday.

As the Australian met with the local press ahead of the 2017 season opener, it emerged that Renault has solved the recurring reliability problem with its new power unit.

Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt said: "In the Barcelona tests, the Renault teams had to use throttled performance most of the time."

Red Bull - the most competitive Renault-powered team - was a few tenths off the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari through the winter, so the news will be music to Ricciardo’s ears.

Asked by local media how confident he is for the 2017 title battle, Ricciardo told Fairfax Media: "Very confident.

"If we have the package to be in the mix, then I definitely feel I can do it."