Ricciardo expecting 'intra-building' battle with Max and Felipe

Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo failed to put himself in the mix for a place among the top four spots for tomorrow's Russian Grand Prix.

The Aussie, who clocked in fifth, a massive 1.7 seconds adrift of poleman Sebastian Vettel, wasn't all that disappointed however, admitting the position was where he expected to be.

"To be honest, I'd rather look at the position than the time," Ricciardo said.

"We knew this was going to be the highest achievable position in qualifying today, that's what we came into the weekend fighting for.

• Vettel and Raikkonen lock out Sochi front row

Ricciardo reiterated his belief that Sochi was simply not a circuit well-suited to Red Bull, which means that the Milton Keynes outfit and the Honey Badger will most probably remain in damage limitation mode tomorrow.

"We know this circuit is not our strength, it's obviously not a nice thing to know," explained Ricciardo.

"I think last year I was 1.7s off pole, so I'm about 1.8s this year. And two races time from now we were actually on pole, so things can turn around. I'm definitely going to stay positive.

"We can hope to stay in the top five (tomorrow), that's going to be our realistic target."

Ricciardo joked about the prospect of a with Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa, his fellow residents in Monte-Carlo..

"Unfortunately there will probably be a battle with the guys I'm around rather than the guys in front.

"We all live in the same building in Monaco, Massa, Verstappen and me, so we might have a little 'intra-building' battle tomorrow.

"So maybe Max can give us his big apartment for the weekend if we beat him!"

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter