Daniel Ricciardo is hoping to replicate his best day in a Renault this season after finishing Friday’s second practice session in a stunning third.
While the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas comfortably topped the timesheets in both practice sessions, Ricciardo stunned the paddock with a scorching lap to pip Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to third on the timesheets.
It left the Aussie crowing about ‘genuine’ pace – and targeting a first podium since Monaco 2018.
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Asked what he thought his chances were of a podium, he said: “If we do what we did this afternoon, then yeah. And I think that (third) was genuine for the track conditions.
“We did a few changes through the session, and I really felt a big step with one of the changes we made, and I was like, ‘This is a pretty good race car right now.’
“So I think we can hang in there. We’ll see. If we’re here in quali, I think that would still exceed what probably our expectation is now, but I think we can still do a very good job.”
RACE CENTRE: QUALIFYING RESULTS AND LIVE TIMING
Ricciardo’s previous best qualifying result this campaign is a mere ninth, though the Renault has showed good race pace.
Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull ahead of the Racing Point pairing of Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg, the Canadian edging ahead of the stand-in German driver, who was replacing coronavirus victim Sergio Perez.
Behind them, Charles Leclerc was seventh for Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Esteban Ocon in the second Renault.
Watch Free Practice 3 LIVE on Fox Sports and Kayo at 8pm AEST, and watch Qualifying LIVE at 11pm AEST.
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