Daniel Ricciardo admits he did not expect to qualify in the top three for the Grand Prix of Europe after the pace shown on Friday.
Red Bull struggled on Friday compared to its main rivals, with the Mercedes-powered cars dominating the top five in FP2. In qualifying a mistake from Lewis Hamilton saw the defending champion crash out without posting a time in Q3, and Ricciardo then managed to beat the two Ferraris on his final lap to set the third quickest time.
With Sergio Perez second fastest but facing a grid penalty for a gearbox change, Ricciardo will start from second and praised Red Bull for the progress it made with its car overnight.
“We definitely improved it," Ricciardo said. "Today we took a step in the right direction. Already this morning we were looking like we were more in the competition. Yesterday we struggled and it didn’t help losing track time with the crash in P1.
"Qualifying was good, we were able to chip away at it. Q3 wasn't very clean, on the first lap I made a few mistakes and didn’t put it together. Obviously the red flag made the second run just go out and try and set a time. Obviously we did that, I put in a time that was good enough to be here so I think we received well.
"Did I think we would be here yesterday? No. Did I think we were going to be on the front row? Not really. But thanks to Perez and a few circumstances I think we put ourselves in a good position."
And Ricciardo says the result shows Red Bull is still making progress with the Renault power unit after being able to beat Ferrari in qualifying.
"It looks like everyone is a lot closer this weekend. The Mercedes-powered cars seem quite quick from yesterday, the Force India and Williams looked very competitive. So we had to take a little bit of downforce off to try and get closer but as Canada we are seeing improvements, so we’re getting there."
REPORT: Rosberg secures Baku pole as Hamilton crashes out
AS IT HAPPENED: Grand Prix of Europe - Qualifying
Silbermann says ... Ballrooms and having a ball in Baku
Chris Medland’s 2016 Grand Prix of Europe preview
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
