In only his second weekend back from a hand injury that ruled him out of five grands prix rounds, Ricciardo had already showed good pace on Friday when he was sixth in FP2.
He slipped back to ninth in Saturday’s FP3 session, however in qualifying Ricciardo was on form as he took fourth in Q1 and fifth in Q2.
On both occasions he was helped by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was able to focus on towing the Australian as his own weekend was already compromised a power unit penalty, but even without a tow in Q3 Ricciardo managed to qualify fourth and split the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Speaking to Sky F1, Ricciardo explained that he “started the weekend with a bit of a different set-up” which he felt “just felt comfortable with”.
Combined with what he described as a “positive chip on my shoulder”, the eight-time grand prix winner said he has regained his confidence.
“I know I haven't done much this year race-wise, but I feel a lot like my old self,” remarked Ricciardo.
“And I feel like yeah, I can do well. A lot of things that were there, and it kind of brought out a lot of confidence.
“Even FP3 this morning, I was P9, and I wasn't happy at all with my lap. But as opposed to kind of being frustrated with that, it gave me confidence coming into quali that I can clean it up and we're going to be well inside the top 10.”
Source: Autosport