Ricciardo: I’m tripping major nutsack after Mexico pole

Daniel Ricciardo says he is “tripping major nutsack” after beating Red Bull Formula 1 teammate Max Verstappen to pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen had looked the more likely of the two Red Bull drivers to claim pole having dominated proceedings heading into a closely-fought qualifying session in Mexico, but Ricciardo overhauled his teammate on the final runs in Q3 to take his second pole of the season and the third of his F1 career.

The Dutchman’s initial run was good enough to put him on provisional pole, before a stunning last-gasp effort by Ricciardo saw him snatch pole by just 0.026s after producing a 1m14.759s.

“I knew it [the laptime] was there somewhere,” Ricciardo said immediately after the end of qualifying.

“We hadn’t had the cleanest laps in practice and I just knew putting the laps together would be crucial as always.

“I knew the pace was in the car as Max had shown all weekend from start to finish, so I knew it was all about putting a clean lap together at the end.

“I still wasn’t convinced as it wasn’t the cleanest but putting it on pole, I can relax now because I’m tripping major nutsack right now.”

The result marked Red Bull’s first front-row lockout since the 2013 United States Grand Prix and its first of the V6 hybrid era that has largely been dominated by Mercedes.

It is also the first circuit other than Monaco Ricciardo has achieved a pole position at. 

“That makes it special as well,” he explained. “Obviously Monaco was the only place I’d ever done this so to do it here is special.

“It was super close with Max, I heard but its great for the team. It’s a 1-2, I don’t know the last time Red Bull had a 1-2 so that’s pretty cool.”