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The Australian bemoaned his qualifying performance in which gains in one corner invariably led to losses in another, despite the fact he believes he ‘didn’t drive shit’.
A better showing from Yuki Tsunoda saw the Japanese driver qualify 11th, a more representative showing according to Ricciardo.
And that has left the eight-time race winner optimistic of forward progress come the race, especially given the likes of Nico Hulkenberg starting in 10th.
“I’m confident to be better than what I qualified today,” Ricciardo said.
“I mean, obviously, like Nico did a really good job today and if you look at… obviously, I’m not saying this is last year, but if you look at last year, they’d normally struggle a bit more on race day.
“If that’s the same trend [this year], then maybe that’s one car we can potentially find.
“And McLarens, I think are quick, and we weren’t too bad in the long runs.
“So there’s some optimism that we could kind of maybe shuffle our way towards the front.
“And it’s the first race. Anything can happen as well. Some people might be excited. Some people might be nervous.
“You never know. Just have to keep my head on a swivel and the rest will follow.”
The pack ahead appears, on evidence of testing and what has been seen thus far in the season’s opening round, incredibly close.
While Red Bull Racing looks to lead the pack, perhaps without as great an advantage as feared over Ferrari, there is little to split Mercedes, Aston Martin, and McLaren.
RB has looked half a step adrift of that group, though race pace remains an uncertainty.
The Bahrain circuit is unsuited to the McLaren, which is unsuited to slower-speed corners. That could leave it vulnerable to the RB, which has looked a well-rounded car.
“Everything’s close, so there’s a lot to play for,” Ricciardo reasoned of the challenge ahead..
“I think you just have that extra tenth or two in the race and manage the tyres better then you can definitely be fighting in the points.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix begins at 18:00 local time (02:00 AEDT Sunday morning).
