Ricciardo undeterred by ‘big kiss’ with champions’ wall

Daniel Ricciardo secured a spot on the second row for tomorrow’ Canadian GP despite giving Montreal’s infamous wall of champions a ‘pretty big kiss’.

The Red Bull driver’squalifying  performance was good for fourth, ahead of team mate Max Verstappen, but Ricciardo feared his relatively hard impact with the wall on his final flying lap may have damaged his RB12’s rear suspension.

“It felt like a pretty big kiss actually,” the Aussie said.

“As soon as I hit it, I thought about what happened to Carlos [Sainz]. I thought ‘just please keep the wheels on until the line, and then they can fall off it they want!’

“In the end, I don’t think I lost much to it, I think I carried so much speed into the corner that I gained in what I lost out by hitting the wall. It probably didn’t change my overall position.”

A thorough examination of the Red Bull’s rear suspension may justify its replacement which Ricciardo is expecting the FIA will allow on the grounds of safety.

“It took a pretty big hit yesterday as well, and it held up. We’ll see. It felt a bit buckled, the car wobbled a bit as I crossed the line. I’m sure the FIA will let us change parts if we need to if they look a bit worse for wear.

“I don’t think I lost the tenth and half that Seb [Vettel] was in front. Pretty happy. This weekend was steady, I think we’ve built up to it. We got it all together and we’re pretty happy with fourth. We’re only three tenths from pole.”

Given Montreal’s uncertain weather which is set to persist tomorrow, Ricciardo will take whatever the elements deliver but underlines his preference for cool temperatures.

“Cooler conditions will help us. Friday we struggled a bit with the hotter track temperature. If it was hot again tomorrow we would make some changes to make us better, but we have been more competitive in the cooler conditions. So it will be close.

“Hopefully we can be there with Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes generally have a bit of a qualy mode, so maybe if they have to turn the engine down a bit for tomorrow it will put us closer.

“I would love a fight between all three of us, all three teams, that would be awesome. As always they will still be the ones to beat. But we can be pretty close to them.”

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