Ricciardo: No need to overdrive Red Bull F1 car in Monaco

Daniel Ricciardo says he felt no need to overdrive his Red Bull RB14 car during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday as he swept to his second pole position in Formula 1.

Ricciardo finished fastest with a new track record in every session of the race weekend so far, including all three parts of qualifying as he beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to pole position in Q3.

Ricciardo’s result was a stark contrast to that of Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, who will start last on the grid after failing to take part in qualifying as a result of his crash in final practice.

Verstappen’s crash acted as proof of the fine margins between success and failure around the streets of Monaco, and while Ricciardo admitted he did think about the incident, he had complete confidence in the Red Bull RB14 car.  

“It’s always in the back of your mind here I guess, because the risk and reward is very real and it was proven this morning,” Ricciardo said.

“It’s there, but it’s at the back of your mind because to be fast you can’t think about those things. Knowing we’ve had a great package all weekend, obviously we need to push it, but I don’t think we need to overdrive it as obviously the car is performing well - just hit your marks and keep it clean I guess.

“Obviously we are all pushing each other particularly myself and Max in the same team. It’s no surprise these things can happen and as I said when we are lapping 1m10s, 1m11s. There’s very little room for error.”

Ricciardo and Verstappen had been evenly-matched through all three practice sessions, but the Australian said he had not been dwelling too much on the battle with his teammate.

“Obviously you’re aware of your teammate’s speed, but for me, it was a battle with myself, wanting to be the quickest from the start and try and reach my personal goals for the weekend,” Ricciardo said.

“We were close throughout all of the sessions. It could be a psychological battle if he sees it that way.

“But for me personally I just wanted to stick my name on top and just try and keep the momentum up from the start.”