Daniel Ricciardo says he drove the final sector of his qualifying lap in Italy with “pure rage” and struggled to contain his frustration after missing out on third.
Ricciardo was involved in a closely-contested battle for third on the grid at Monza against title leader Max Verstappen and McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
Ricciardo wound up fifth overall with a deficit of just 0.006s to Norris while Verstappen was a mere 0.023s further ahead.
“To be so close to P3, it is not often you get a chance to fight with Max, the championship leader,” he said.
“I was two hundredths from him, I don’t know what the gap is, but it is so small. I’m angry. I was angry, that was pure rage. Pure rage and wrestling the car.
“I knew that there was time in the last sector, with the first two were kind of net even, so I knew I had to pull something out in the last sector. I thought it was enough.
“I think I was third for a short moment and then it was fourth and fifth. I actually thought I was third.
“Then when [race engineer] Tom [Stallard] told me I was fifth and told me the gaps… um, yeah, not to talk about myself, but I think that is why I call myself a honey badger because I do have an ability to flick and feel a lot of rage in a short moment of time.
“That is internally what I feel, but I’m going to be smart and hold it in and use it for good reasons in the Sprint and the race.”
Ricciardo vowed to attack in both the Sprint and grand prix in a bid to climb up the order.
Valtteri Bottas, one of four cars ahead of Ricciardo for Sprint, is already destined to start the grand prix from the rear of the field after taking on a fresh power unit.
“I don’t want to be fifth tomorrow or Sunday,” he said. “I am not going to be conservative. We have the car for sure, but when the podium is in reach, go for it. I’m certainly chasing that.
“Definitely eyes ahead for the weekend and try to start Sunday better off [from] where I start tomorrow. I’ll sleep it off tonight, my adrenaline is still very high.”
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