Daniel Ricciardo admitted he was surprised to end up fourth on the grid for the Mexican GP.
The Australian was beaten by teammate Max Verstappen as the two Red Bull’s emerged as the biggest competition to Mercedes, taking third and fourth behind the Silver Arrows.
But all of the near half a second deficit to Lewis Hamilton’s pole position time was lost in the first sector.
After qualifying, Ricciardo revealed his car was all over the place as it proved hard to keep up with the ever fluctuating track conditions.
“It was chaos, everyone just had handling issues out there,” he claimed. “I thought it was a pretty terrible balance, even on the last lap I don’t know how I went quicker – I think I was four tenths slower than my previous lap by Turn 6.
“It was a handful. We didn’t expect the perfect car when the altitude is like this and the grip is nowhere, but that wasn’t a great racecar.”
Ferrari was another team unable to maintain the right balance in the final top 10 shootout, as they went from genuine front row threats to falling behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India by the chequered flag.
Ricciardo’s own reaction to his final grid position highlighted how difficult the session became.
“Fourth is great,” he said. “A bit lucky!
“But, when I see pole is four tenths away – we missed that in the first sector even. It’s tricky out there.”
Looking ahead to the race, both Red Bull’s have opted to start on the supersoft tyres compared to the two Mercedes’ in front who will begin on softs.
Having used a different strategy to get in amongst the Hamilton/ Rosberg in Austin a week ago, Ricciardo is hoping the long run to Turn 1 allows for a repeat to take place.
“I managed to get one last weekend,” he said referring to the jump he got on Rosberg at COTA. “So hopefully we’ll get two – and there’s Max as well.
“It’s a long run to the first corner tomorrow and I think starting on supersoft worked out for us in Austin.”
The Australian is also expecting a much better car for the race despite the handling issues he endured on Saturday.
“I’m alright for the race, but qualifying was weird and confusing. And Ferrari as well, if I’m not happy with my balance, I don’t know what they’re saying.”
