Daniel Ricciardo closes his fourth qualifying with the McLaren outfit in seventh position. This is not the first time the Aussie managed to out-qualify teammate Lando Norris, as Ricciardo was ahead in Bahrain and Imola. Qualifying in Portugal was disastrous for Ricciardo, as he failed to bring the car in Q2.

Lando Norris has been faster and consistent all thoughout qualifying, but failed to put together a clean lap in his last attempt in Q3. The Barcelona track hosted several pre-season test thoughout the years and, indeed, the track is showing the real potential of the grid, with only five teams to make it to Q3 in qualifying. Surely such a known circuit helps Ricciardo.

“Overall, a positive day - admitted Ricciardo - we did really well to get through Q1 with one set of tyres, which gave us two sets for Q3, but obviously we missed it with the timing and, unfortunately, we couldn't use them. I do think there’s always a tenth on the table and that could’ve been a P4 if we’d got a really good lap together. But, I don’t want to focus on that."

Norris also managed to conquer a podium in Imola, while Ricciardo struggled to adapt to his new challenger, like colleagues such as Vettel and Alonso. 

“Ultimately, I’m still looking at myself and how I can improve, I’m not driving the car perfectly yet. Today was certainly better, but I’ll focus on myself and I know the team will address their part for the Q3 timing. Today was a much better day and we made a really good step from yesterday. So, I’m very happy and thankful that we found some answers and that the updates seem to be working.”

The understanding of the car continues for Ricciardo, who constantly works with the team. 

"The car is sensitive and is working well in some aspects, but not in others and I think I should program myself to basically learn to drive more fast, it's like being back to school," he admitted.