Daniel Ricciardo says that he knew he had the pace to take pole for the Mexican Grand Prix. The Australian had been an afterthought with many believing it would be his teammate Max Verstappen who would take pole but the Honeybadger snatched it away at the death.
Speaking immediately after qualifying, the Red Bull driver said he felt he had the pace all weekend to take pole but needed to set the perfect lap to line up P1.
"I knew it was there somewhere," Ricciardo told David Coulthard after qualifying.
"I knew putting the lap together would be crucial as always. Max showed the pace was in the car all weekend.
"I just knew I had to put in a clean lap at the end. Shout out to the team, it's a one-two. It's pretty cool."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says that both drivers got equal treatment in their fight for the top spot but Ricciardo just did the better job.
"Max had the same car and same opportunity, Daniel did the better job in Q3 and deserves the pole," Horner said.
"It's been well executed today, we've just got to convert it tomorrow now."
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