Daniel Ricciardo passes Max Verstappen at the right moment

When Daniel Ricciardo crossed the finish line of Q3, he let out a cry of joy that showed how important his performance was to him. Indeed, not only had he managed to beat the two Ferraris, but also his new teammate Max Verstappen.

However, the Dutchman had largely dominated the internal debates during the first two rounds of qualification. It was therefore important for the team leader to step up when it mattered: « It took a little time to fall into place, but in Q3 I knew I had only one lap and that I had the pace and where I could do it. It was about putting everything together: until now, I hadn’t achieved that, but Q3 is what counts, and I did it. So I’m really happy. »

Now, his objective is clear: to maintain his position at the end of tomorrow’s race and step onto his first podium of the season: « I’m very happy to be back in the top 3 on Saturday and I’ll try to come back tomorrow! I’m happy for both of us (Max and me) that we’re ahead of the two Ferraris. We are both on the second row, which is really great. »

Max Verstappen thus achieved the best qualifying of his young career, finishing 4th. However, he claims that he did not expect to be ranked so well: « I enjoyed qualifying. It improved with every lap. For me, the goal of the day was to have fun, and I had a good feeling in the car. I focused on what I had to do, and it worked. I am happy, I didn’t expect to adapt so quickly to the car. I didn’t expect to be on the second row, so it’s a positive feeling. »

But the appetite comes with eating, and we will see if the young driver will risk everything to climb onto his first podium and thus become the youngest driver to do so, breaking the record of a certain Sebastian Vettel…