Ricciardo never expected front row start

The Red Bull driver crashed during first practice yesterday and then struggled to match the pace of the leading cars, admitting his car's set-up felt off.

But after taking a step forward in final practice, the Australian qualified third.

Ricciardo will start from second, however, following Sergio Perez's penalty.

"We definitely improved it," said Ricciardo. "Today we took a step in the right direction. Already this morning we looked like we were more in the competition.

"Yesterday we struggled. It didn't help with losing track time in P1 with the crash.

"Q3 wasn't very clean. On the first lap I made a few mistakes and didn't put it together. I put in a time that was good enough to be here, so I am happy with that. We recovered well.

"Did I think I would be starting on the front row? Not really. But thanks to Perez and a few other people we put ourselves in a good position."

Ricciardo jumped to third place in the dying seconds of Q3, having rejoined the track ahead of his rivals following the red-flag period caused by Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull racer, who was down in seventh before his final run, admitted the end of the session had been "intense".

"It was hectic. It was intense," he said. "Thanks to the guys and the team for getting me out in front and giving me a clear track to make sure I got in.

"My first run in Q3 was pretty average, to be honest. I made a few mistake, so I thought I had one chance and then the red flag came out."

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble