Daniel Ricciardo is hoping he can keep up with the leading trio as he starts from fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Australian has been rapid all weekend at Spa-Francorchamps as Renault leads the way in straight-line speed, giving them a considerable advantage over even Mercedes in the first and final sectors.

This allowed Ricciardo to claim third on the grid initially in Q3 before being pipped by Max Verstappen on the final run, and the former teammates acknowledged their close duel upon returning to parc ferme.

“It was quite funny actually. I got out of the car and I looked over in his direction and he was already looking at me. He was waiting for my response, and we both gave each other a friendly middle finger. A little bit of banter," he revealed.

Also Read:

• Ricciardo keen to capitalise on any podium opportunity before Renault exit
• McLaren move 'make or break' for Ricciardo's F1 career - Button

Such is the straight-line speed of the Renault, however, Ricciardo could well be a major factor on the run from La Source to Les Combes at the start.

And he admits pulling some moves represents his best chance of securing that elusive first Renault shoey.

"Him [Verstappen] and the two Mercedes have been for the most part in a league of the round on Sundays this year, so it’ll take something extra to hang with them tomorrow for the whole duration," Ricciardo admits

"But we do have a strong first and third sector, so if we could get ahead maybe it is a track that we could defend on.

"They are very strong in the second sector but it is tricky to overtake in the second sector, so I will certainly try to make life difficult for him and the Mercedes guys if that was somehow in reach.”

The speed of the RS20 though is in stark contrast to Spain when the French manufacturer failed to score for the first time in 2020.

We are pretty light [on downforce], Ricciardo added. “It was a characteristic of the car last year, for whatever reason the car seems happier with a little bit less load on it.

"Obviously, you cannot run this low around a circuit like Barcelona, but when we do come to these more high-speed, flowing circuits, it just seems like it is in a better place with a smaller rear wing.

“It is obviously something that the engineers need to get on top of, or the aerodynamicist, to understand where we are maybe missing on the high downforce stuff. It is encouraging, it is encouraging for next weekend as well. Even if we had a bit more wing to choose from, I think we would probably still stay on this one for this track. It is working well.”