Ricciardo’s golden pre-race antics

All eyes will be on Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as they continue their championship fight.Lights out is scheduled for 6am AEDT.Stream Every Practice, Qualifier & Race of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >Ricciardo’s golden pre-race anticsAdopting an American accent isn’t all Daniel Ricciardo had planned for his race weekend in Austin.The Aussie rocked up to the pre-race parade rocking a Texas Longhorns singlet, tight black jeans and cowboy hat as he played up to the locals in the crowd.Everyone wants to see Max vs LewisMax Verstappen in a Red Bull stormed to pole position for the US Grand Prix, edging out title rival and Mercedes’ world champion Lewis Hamilton in front of an estimated crowd of 120,000 people.Verstappen, who leads Hamilton by six points in the championship race, claimed his ninth pole of 2021 with a time of 1min 32.910sec, just two tenths faster than the British driver.Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, was third, only 0.15sec behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes, was fourth quickest, but will drop to ninth on the gird for the race after changing his engine.Daniel Ricciardo starts seventh — one place ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.Organisers were hopeful the crowd figure at the Circuit of the Americas would swell to 140,000 to see Verstappen and Hamilton go head-to-head and side-by-side.“I guess that’s what people like,” said the Dutch driver. “From here onwards we hope to have a good start and work together as a team and have the best possible result.” Hamilton has won five of the eight races held at the Austin track since its 2012 debut. He also wrapped up world titles at the Texan circuit in 2015 and 2019. Bottas was victorious once, in the last event held in 2019, before the 2020 race was dropped from the schedule due to the pandemic.Verstappen has finished fourth, third and second.“I gave it everything today - it was a bit of a struggle through qualifying,” Hamilton said after qualifying.“I think from P1 onwards we kind of fell back a little bit and the Red Bull guys were incredibly quick.In an indication of the intense pressure building in the title race, Verstappen had branded Hamilton a “stupid idiot” in Friday practice. He was angered by the Mercedes man pushing past on the inside of his Red Bull when the Dutchman was lining up a flying lap.Asked before the race about their clashes this season, a tetchy Verstappen said: “I don’t see why we always have to keep bringing this up. It’s not like we are the only ones who have touched, you know.“In this sport, these things happen, unfortunately.”Despite Hamilton’s love of the track, Red Bull do at least have one win in Texas courtesy of Sebastian Vettel in 2013.Starting grid (top 10)1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 3. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 4. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 5. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)6. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 8. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 9. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda)With AFP

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October 25, 2021 at 12:17AM
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All eyes will be on Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as they continue their championship fight.Lights out is scheduled for 6am AEDT.Stream Every Practice, Qualifier & Race of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial >Ricciardo’s golden pre-race anticsAdopting an American accent isn’t all Daniel Ricciardo had planned for his race weekend in Austin.The Aussie rocked up to the pre-race parade rocking a Texas Longhorns singlet, tight black jeans and cowboy hat as he played up to the locals in the crowd.Everyone wants to see Max vs LewisMax Verstappen in a Red Bull stormed to pole position for the US Grand Prix, edging out title rival and Mercedes’ world champion Lewis Hamilton in front of an estimated crowd of 120,000 people.Verstappen, who leads Hamilton by six points in the championship race, claimed his ninth pole of 2021 with a time of 1min 32.910sec, just two tenths faster than the British driver.Sergio Perez, in the second Red Bull, was third, only 0.15sec behind Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas, in the other Mercedes, was fourth quickest, but will drop to ninth on the gird for the race after changing his engine.Daniel Ricciardo starts seventh — one place ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.Organisers were hopeful the crowd figure at the Circuit of the Americas would swell to 140,000 to see Verstappen and Hamilton go head-to-head and side-by-side.“I guess that’s what people like,” said the Dutch driver. “From here onwards we hope to have a good start and work together as a team and have the best possible result.” Hamilton has won five of the eight races held at the Austin track since its 2012 debut. He also wrapped up world titles at the Texan circuit in 2015 and 2019. Bottas was victorious once, in the last event held in 2019, before the 2020 race was dropped from the schedule due to the pandemic.Verstappen has finished fourth, third and second.“I gave it everything today - it was a bit of a struggle through qualifying,” Hamilton said after qualifying.“I think from P1 onwards we kind of fell back a little bit and the Red Bull guys were incredibly quick.In an indication of the intense pressure building in the title race, Verstappen had branded Hamilton a “stupid idiot” in Friday practice. He was angered by the Mercedes man pushing past on the inside of his Red Bull when the Dutchman was lining up a flying lap.Asked before the race about their clashes this season, a tetchy Verstappen said: “I don’t see why we always have to keep bringing this up. It’s not like we are the only ones who have touched, you know.“In this sport, these things happen, unfortunately.”Despite Hamilton’s love of the track, Red Bull do at least have one win in Texas courtesy of Sebastian Vettel in 2013.Starting grid (top 10)1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 3. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 4. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 5. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)6. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 8. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 9. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda)With AFP