Ricciardo pleased to lead midfield battle despite 'messy' Q3

Daniel Ricciardo will lead the midfield battle in Shanghai on Sunday, the Renault driver qualifying seventh and outpacing team mate Nico Hulkenberg for the first time this season.

Both Renault drivers enjoyed a smooth Saturday, enabling Ricciardo in particular to focus on performance which the Aussie did, achieving his best qualifying result to date with his new team.

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"I’m really happy for the team with today’s result," said Ricciardo.

"It’s really good to have both cars in Q3; that’s a solid result.

"This midfield battle is so tight and your weekend can change within one or two tenths of a second, so it’s pleasing to be at the head of that midfield battle."

While upbeat after his result, the French team's new recruit wasn't all that satisfied with his run in the final segment of qualifying.

"My Q3 lap was actually a little bit messy in the final sector, so I was happy to hear we had finished seventh.

"Tomorrow, we’ll realistically like to hold onto the top seven and see if we can go after sixth."

Hulkenberg was equally buoyed by Saturday's performance, believing Renault's driver had a good package heading into race day.

"It’s a really good team result. The car has been feeling good and performing well all weekend and we had a smooth qualifying today," said the German driver.

"We managed to get into Q2 on just one run, which is pleasing. I was happy with all my laps, we knew it would be close and it shaped out to be that way.

"The important thing is the team result and we can race strong from there. Our long run pace yesterday was competitive, the package feels good and we’ll be pushing for a double points finish."

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