Ricciardo ‘tripping’ after nicking Mexico GP pole from Verstappen
Australian Formula One star Daniel Ricciardo has pinched pole position for the Mexico Grand Prix from teammate Max Verstappen and described it as only he can.
Verstappen, who won in Mexico last year, looked set to become the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history as he was on provisional pole before the final flying laps at the high-altitude Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.
It was then that Ricciardo pulled out a rapid lap of 1:14.759, which was more than a second better than his best times from the first and second qualifying runs.
External Link: Formula 1 Twitter video of Daniel Ricciardo's qualifying lap in Mexico
After taking pole for the first time at a race other than Monaco, Ricciardo was ecstatic in the car, leaving his engineers in stitches with his celebration, before making his push for quote of the season when being interviewed on the track.
"I've got to relax a little. I'm tripping major nut sack right now," he said.
"Believe it or not, I held a lot of [my joy] in because I know I've got to keep some for tomorrow," he added.
Ricciardo made sure to applaud his Red Bull teammate for ensuring the team had a lock on the front row of the grid for the first time in five years.
The typically hot-headed Verstappen seemed less than thrilled with having P1 taken from him so late in the piece.
External Link: Max Verstappen seemed unhappy with second in Mexico GP qualifying
He drove directly into the '2' marker set up after qualifying and was not thrilled with how his car was driving.
"The whole qualifying was crap," the Dutchman said.
"The same problems as [free practice two] — engine braking not like I want to, just rear-locking the car. We tried to make the best of it.
"I thought it was going to be enough with the problems we had, but it's still good to be second, so we'll see."
While qualifying was a win-win situation for team boss Christian Horner, who said Ricciardo's "mighty last lap" came out of nowhere, the actual race could be different beast.
Ricciardo and Verstappen do not have the greatest track record when racing in close quarters.
The pair came together in the closing stages of April's Azerbaijan GP, leaving the cars totalled and team fuming, but Ricciardo assured their boss there would not be a replay.
"No-one wants to fight like Baku, so hopefully no heart attacks tomorrow [except for] heart attacks of celebration and joy," he said.
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