Ricciardo eyes podium after splitting Ferraris in qualifying

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo believes there's good chance to finish his 2017 with a podium after qualifying in fourth place for tomorrow's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver's final lap in Q3 was just enough to split the two Ferraris on the grid. He narrowly managed to bump Kimi Raikkonen down a place as the chequered flag came out.

“I was happy with that,” Ricciardo said afterwards. |I thought we had the pace [to get on the second row] and I would have been disappointed if we couldn’t show it.

"I really thought if I put a good lap together we could sneak ahead of at least one Ferrari," he added.

His first effort in the final round of qualifying had been disappointing. But Ricciardo stressed that there hadn't been any problems.

"Nothing in particular," he said. "Just a bit of communication through the session. We were trying to understand why we were there but not as quick as we thought we could be.

"The Q3 run one was a pretty bad lap," he admitted. "I felt like we understood why, so then we put a good one together in the last run and it was good, jumped a Ferrari.

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“Seb had a bit too much, but I was happy to get Kimi.

"It hasn't been for my standards or my wants the perfect year of Saturdays with qualifying, so it was nice to finish the year with a good lap.

Ricciardo said that his qualifying performance this weekend is enough to put him into contention for a podium finish tomorrow.

"Second row is close enough to fight tomorrow," he said. "The podium is certainly an opportunity.

"We're close and all I need is a good start and then we're there," he continued. "We'll see once the start settles how we are.

"We were still a few tenths off Ferrari and Mercedes yesterday but a few changes overnight and I think the car will come to us as the track improves.

"I’m certainly keen to get my elbows out and try to fight for the podium," he added.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.