Daniel Ricciardo secured his best qualifying result of the season in Singapore, and will join former Infiniti Red Bull Racing team-mate Sebastian Vettel on the front row on Sunday aiming for his fourth career Formula 1 victory.
The Australian was quick throughout the qualifying hour, but was unable to beat Ferrari man Vettel, and admitted his pleasant surprise to not have been fighting with the usually-dominant Mercedes team for top spot.
“It’s really nice to be back up here on the front row; it’s been a while and it’s a bit of coincidence that it’s Seb and I together, but it should be a good race,” said Ricciardo.
“Qualifying was exciting and to have no Mercedes up here is a surprise, so we will definitely try to capitalize on that – it would be nice to be back in the press conference tomorrow!
“I’m really happy for the team as we have definitely made a load of progress, since Silverstone and particularly since Budapest. Today’s result backs up the confidence I had in the car.”
Despite losing pole to Vettel, Ricciardo feels he has an opportunity on Sunday to take his first victory of 2015, and admits he has been satisfied with how the weekend in the humidity of Singapore has gone so far.
“We’ll be aiming for the win, as that’s where the points are and the champagne is,” said Ricciardo. “Seb put himself out of reach, so we are second best for today and we’ll try and go one better tomorrow.
“It’s always a challenge here and you need to have confidence in the car, because it’s hot and physical and a test for the driver which makes it fun. I’m happy with the way the weekend has gone so far.”
