The Australian ꧅has struggled to adapt to McLaren’s 2021 F1 car since making the switch from Re𓃲nault over the winter but enjoyed a breakthrough result in a treacherously wet qualifying at Spa.

With teammate Lando Norris out of qualifying following his scary crash at the start of Q3, McLaren's hopes r𒉰ested with Ricciardo, who delivered with a brilliant l💜ap to grab fourth on the grid. 

Ricciardo said 💝his performance in tricky conditions was “confidence-boosting” and hopes it will serve him well for any future wet running this season.

“I would say that getting a result like this in these conditions is definitely confidence-boosting,” Ricciardo 💙said.

“If it translates to the dry, who knows. But from just a p🌱ure level of confidence and moving forward, I think if there is anothe🐓r race that we go to with wet or tricky conditions, I feel I’m going to jump in the car already with more of an understanding of what to expect.

"In Q1 I was quite a 💞bit off the pace. Then I made steps through the sessions. So jumping into a qualifying session in the wet and knowing that I will be closer in Q1 already, that builds a lot of confidence for me moving forward.”

💎Ricciardo improved as he grew in confidence as qualifying went on and left it late to jump up to fourth with his🔴 final lap of Q3.

“It was a good session, if I💮 look back, obviously the end result is good,” he added.

"And to get that ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚin these conditions because these conditions definitely requ🌞ire a significant amount of confidence and feel with the car.

“I chipped away at it. I was definitely a bit off in Q1. Then in Q2 I 🎐made a good step, and by Q3 I was getting better and closer to the edge. Maybe if there was Q4 I would be further up again!

“But gener🌳ally happy [to] come back from the bre💦ak and get out on the front foot, have a good solid session in the wet, and keep it steady. We are at the pointy end which is nice.”