Young Aussie once again out-qualifies World Champ Sebastian Vettel
Saturday 20 September 2014 18:26, UK
Daniel Ricciardo has found an unlikely ally in pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton in welcoming the ultra-tight battle during qualifying in Singapore on Saturday.
While Mercedes have invariably enjoyed the whip hand since the start of the season – claiming pole in every event with the exception of the Austrian GP in June – they were stuck on the backfoot for most of this weekend’s session at Marina Bay as Ferrari, Red Bull and Williams all threatened their supremacy.
Hamilton eventually prevailed with a lap just seven-thousandths of a second faster than his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg while Ricciardo was less than two tenths adrift in third. With the fifth-placed Fernando Alonso just 0.226s shy of Hamilton’s benchmark effort, the session was the closest fought of the season so far.
“It’s pretty cool how many cars there are within half a second,” remarked a happy Ricciardo. “Monaco is a lot shorter so you could expect us to be closer but this is a long lap. It’s going to be a fun race definitely.
“Tyres will be key - as always, but particularly here. It won’t be straightforward like Monza and another one-stop race. It should be fun.”
The sentiment was echoed by Hamilton after he was pushed to the limit during a riveting qualifying hour that saw both Rosberg and Ricciardo claim provisional pole after the chequered flag had fallen before he produced a lap of 1:45.681 to edge out the German by the narrowest of margins.
“I think for the racing it’s great,” the Mercedes driver concurred. “It’s the most exciting qualifying session I’ve enjoyed for a long time with so many cars there and I had to be spot-on.”
Despite his last-gasp defeat to both Mercedes cars, Ricciardo had no complaints – especially with team-mate Sebastian Vettel only able to take fourth on the grid, one place behind the young Aussie.
“I was one of the first on track and while it was nice to get provisional pole, I knew the Mercedes were still to come so I didn’t hold my breath for long,” added Ricciardo to Sky Sports F1. “To stay in third and be within a couple of tenths of them is a good result.
“Obviously, tomorrow if I get close enough I’ll have a good go. I haven’t been shy this year and that won’t change here.”
The 2014 Singapore GP is live only on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Our race-day coverage begins at 11.30am on Sunday with lights out at Marina Bay at 1pm.
