Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have both been left pleased with their afternoon after an impeccable performance in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The pair claimed the best grid position for the team this season by having both cars in the top four. Ricciardo set a lap time of 1m22.680s to claim third place in Q3, finishing 0.407s ahead of his new teammate, who finished fourth, after Verstappen looked to have the better of the Australian in the first two sessions.
“Firstly I’m really happy to be back in the top three on Saturday and will try and be back here tomorrow!,” Ricciardo said. “I’m happy for both of us (Max and I) to be in front of the Ferraris, we are both on the second row, which is pretty awesome.
“It took a bit of time to come together, but in Q3 I knew I had one lap and knew I had the pace and where I could do it; it was about putting it all together – up until then I hadn’t, but Q3 is what counts and I did it, so I’m really happy.”
A fourth-place grid position is Verstappen’s best so far this season, and the Dutchman was delighted with the outcome.
“I enjoyed the qualifying, it was getting better with every lap,” Verstappen said. “For me the target today was to enjoy myself and I had a good feeling in the car.”
He is hoping to remain in the same positions in the race, and he would equal his best finish in the sport with a fourth place or could make history by becoming the youngest ever podium finisher in Formula One history by over two years if the 18-year-old made it into the podium positions, an accolade currently held by Sebastian Vettel (21 years, 73 days) when winning the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
“I focused on what I had to do and it worked. I’m happy, I didn’t expect to adapt to the car so quickly. I didn’t expect to be on the second row, so it’s a positive feeling. We are close to a podium and hopefully we can keep our positions in tomorrow’s race.”
