Daniel Ricciardo quipped that he was “tripping major nut sack” after edging Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen during a thrilling qualifying session in Mexico.
Ricciardo held only fourth after the opening Q3 runs at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but vaulted up to first on his second push lap, overhauling Verstappen by just 0.026s.
Verstappen was unable to respond and that left Ricciardo clear to take his second pole of the campaign, and third of his Formula 1 career.
“I knew it was there, I knew it was there somewhere,” said Ricciardo, who trailed Verstappen through practice.
“We didn’t have the cleanest run through practice and I knew putting a lap together would be crucial as always, I knew the pace was in the car, obviously Max showed that from start to finish.
“I just knew it was [about] putting together a clean lap at the end, still not convinced it was the cleanest, but once I heard I got pole… I’ve got to relax a little, I’m tripping major nut sack right now.”
Speaking later on whether his last effort left him surprised, Ricciardo replied: “I don’t know if I would say surprised. I knew the pace was there it was just a matter of putting it together.
“To be honest, the first sector wasn’t that good, so I was surprised to have probably got the pole after that, but I saw the second and third sector were strong and that’s where I made the difference.
“But I wasn’t convinced after the first sector that I was on for pole, put it that way. I knew the previous lap wasn’t particularly clean and I was able to get a bit more out of it.
“It was fun, it was very close, but it felt good. Qualifying can be exciting sometimes and today it proved that.”
