Ricciardo: "Verstappen takes pole six out of seven times".

Daniel Ricciardo had to work hard on Friday evening to secure a good starting position for Saturday's sprint race. The Australian registered a fifth time and starts behind team mate Lando Norris.

The driver struggled quite a bit with his car, he told Sky Sports in an interview. "You'll see it in the races. I was angry. Pure anger and wrestling with the car. The first two sectors were equal and I knew I had to get something out of it in the last sector. I thought I was third until they told me I was fifth."

However, Ricciardo is proud of what he and his team have achieved. For that, he uses Max Verstappen as a guide. "It's good to be so close to Max, who has taken pole six times out of the last seven. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I don't want to be fifth tomorrow."

Norris, in turn, came up just a little short of finishing in the top three. Nevertheless, McLaren can be satisfied with the result, as it kept rival Ferrari far behind.