Daniel Ricciardo felt he got everything he could out of his RB13 in Qualifying the United States Grand Prix, and was happy despite missing out on third on the grid to Valtteri Bottas by just 0.009 seconds.
The Red Bull Racing driver admitted he was pleased to find himself on the second row of the grid at the Circuit of The Americas, particularly as his pace had not been that strong before the Qualifying session, but he managed to pull a lap out of the bag when it mattered.
“I was happy when I crossed the line and could see I was fourth,” said Ricciardo. “But then I was only a hundredth off Valtteri so I was kind of happy but then I was like: a hundredth is nothing, but I felt with what I had that was all I could do.
“Q1 I was miles off the pace and even this morning in FP3 so it hasn’t been the easiest weekend up until now.”
Ricciardo felt the wind played a big part in the session, with it blowing stronger than they had experienced at any point of the weekend to date, but from fourth on the grid, the Australian feels he has put himself in a good position to fight for a podium on Sunday.
“The wind was a big struggle for everyone today,” said Ricciardo. “The track is really open and the wind blows from all directions so it’s quite strong. That factor combined with the track being a bit bumpy and slippery is why the lap times are not crazy fast this year.
“But then towards the end of Qualifying on the last lap we managed to find a little bit more so that was positive and I’m happy to end there. Second row is good enough to fight tomorrow.”
