MELBOURNE, Australia -- Daniel Ricciardo says Lewis Hamilton's pole position lap at the Australian Grand Prix was like Mercedes showing the finger to the rest of the paddock and throwing a pie in everyone's face.
Hamilton qualified over 0.6s clear of the rest of the field at the season-opening qualifying session in Melbourne -- the first clear indication that Mercedes has lost none of the advantage it held over its rivals for the past four years. Ricciardo -- who had a three-place grid penalty regardless but had hoped to set a lap time within 0.3s of Mercedes -- said it was a clear signal to the rest of the paddock.