Formula 1

[kruddler]

All season Ricciardo can barely get close to Norris, not even in the frame of reference.

Then Norris wipes off his car in Q3, and magically Ricciardo goes out and has a new found best ever in McLaren performance to qualify 4th.

Now I can't say any of this is deliberate, but it would be pretty reasonable for Ricciardo be quietly paranoid, it is at least a deserving WTF!

Forget the positions, look at the times.
Ricciardo was 1 sec behind Norris the whole time. Only reason he finished 4th is because it was all in the wet and 'poor cars/performers' get a more level playing field. Look at Russell at #2. If he makes the top 10 he has overachieved.
Rain = all bets are off.

Ricciardo is a great manager of tyres. He is a lift and coast into corners to ease ware on his tyres. The McLaren gets best results when you JUMP on the breaks and throw it into corners. Its complete opposite of driving style.

Its no surprise when you have to ease it into corners under duress and slippery conditions that he magically rises up the rankings.