Ricciardo hoping to "disrupt" leaders

Daniel Ricciardo was disappointingly off the pace in qualifying for the American Grand Prix on Saturday, earning himself fifth place on the grid, which will become fourth after Sebastian Vettel’s grid penalty.

The Australian was more than a second away from pole sitter Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, but the Australian believes that if he gets a good start that he can mix it with Mercedes and Ferrari.

He said: “I think if it goes off in order, it will be hard to put pressure on them the whole race.

“But if we can get some track position on them at the start, gain a few positions, we could disrupt their tempo and have a good crack for a podium.”

Podiums have been few and far between this season for Ricciardo, who has only stepped on the rostrum twice, after his two wins in China and Monaco.

Compare that to team mate Max Verstappen, who only has one win but has earned seven podium positions.