Daniel Ricciardo has suggested he could go all out at the first corner as he lines up fourth on the grid for the United States Grand Prix.
The Australian ended a 12-race run of failing to beat his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen though that was by default after the Dutchman took himself out with a kerb strike in Q1
Riccardo would also end up 1.2 seconds off the pole time set by Lewis Hamilton however, but with his historically more competitive in race trim, the lover of all things Austin is hoping to make a mark on Sunday.
“It has been a while since our last second row start so I’ll thank Seb [Vettel] or the Stewards for that but we gained a position there,” he said in a subtle dig at his former teammate after his penalty.
“The second row puts me there at the start and in the mix with Turn 1 [being] wide and there is going to be a bit going on I think.
“I am just happy to be there with my nose there and make it happen but with one lap we are in a league of our own and not up the front, in the middle bit, but it the race I think we will be closer.”
Before the start of the weekend, Ricciardo had suggested a podium was his target and with the championship battle for the likes of Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to consider, the 29-year-old hopes to capitalise.
“If I can get track position I can try to keep some of the cars behind so maybe we can disrupt their tempo a bit,” he claimed. “We’ll try to send some missiles tomorrow and we’ll see how we go!”