Daniel Ricciardo shocks world with stunning drive in Mexico Grand Prix qualifying madness: ‘HE. DID. THAT.’

In only his second race since returning from a broken hand, Daniel Ricciardo achieved his best qualifying result in a long time by finishing fourth on Sunday morning.

As Ferrari secured a front row exclusion for Monday’s Mexican Grand Prix race, Ricciardo made a powerful statement in his AlphaTauri to beat Mexican Sergio Perez at his home event.

The Aussie is now in a prime position for a points finish after qualifying behind pole winner Charles Leclerc, who finished ahead of teammate Carloa Sainz.

“I think there was definitely a positive chip on my shoulder, I know I haven’t done much race-wise this year but I feel a lot like my old self and I feel like I can do well,” said Ricciardo to Sky.

“So there were a lot of things that were there and it brought a lot of confidence. Even in P3 this morning I was P9 and I wasn’t happy with my lap at all.

The Aussie delivered his best result in a long time by finishing fourth

“But rather than being frustrated by that, it gave me confidence going into qualifying that we can clean it up and we’ll be comfortably in the top 10.”

The unlikely result exceeded the 34-year-old’s expectations, with Ricciardo thinking he would finish P6 or P7.

‘It was one of those weeks where I definitely had the feeling: Sunday night in Austin I already wanted it to be a Friday training. I wanted to get back in the car,” said Ricciardo.

“I felt like there were still some things left on the table and some things with the lineup that we knew we could try on a more conventional weekend. There were some things I definitely wanted to try and had some confidence in.

‘From round 1 yesterday I felt really confident. P4 might be a little more than we thought. Coming into qualifying it was all about how far we could go in the third quarter. As a team we certainly felt confident.

“I thought with the perfect lap it might be P6 or P7, not quite a P4, so it’s cool.”

Fans were shocked by Ricciardo’s blistering pace on Sunday morning, with many sharing their surprise on social media.

‘Daniel f**king Ricciardo for a Reb Bull with an Alpha Tauri HE. DID. THAT.’ wrote one fan.

Ricciardo says he is confident about Monday’s race and is ‘back to his old self’

“That deserves a shoe,” replied another.

“Brace yourself as we watch Daniel Ricciardo’s resurgence in 2020,” said a third.

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost believes Ricciardo is already back to the level he was when he won F1 races.

“He is still in the period where he has to speed up everything,” Tost said after qualifying.

‘Because when you come from Formula 1 and if you get injured, it takes time.

“I told Daniel from the beginning, when he came to Austin, that Austin was going to be a difficult race.

‘I told him not to worry about this, just get used to the car, get comfortable with everything, and that Mexico would be a similar challenge.

“I expected to see old Daniel, who we know can win races, in São Paulo next weekend, but it seems he is already here, at this level.”