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Australia's Daniel Ricciardo says he's not aiming extremely high at the Formula One grand prix in Melbourne.
Daniel Ricciardo might be the only Australian heading to the grand prix with low expectations.
Or, he's bluffing.
Ricciardo will start from seventh on the grid at Sunday's Formula One race in Melbourne.
And, as he has done all week, he's downplaying his chances of becoming the first Australian to finish on the Albert Park podium.
"We're not aiming extremely high," Ricciardo said.
"But I hope that got everyone up."
'That' was his performance in qualifying when his previously underperforming McLaren showed great promise, raising Australian hopes in the process.
But Ricciardo is tempering his chances of catching pacesetters Ferrari and Red Bull.
"The car feels alright," he said.
"There are a couple quicker ones but Mercedes aren't their usual selves at the moment so I think we could maybe put up a fight with them."
Ferrari's championship leader Charles Leclerc has pole position ahead of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Ricciardo's McLaren teammate Lando Norris is fourth on the grid followed by Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Pacesetter Leclerc was preparing for another shootout with Red Bull - the Monaco-born driver won the season-opener race in Bahrain, the finished second to Verstappen in Saudi Arabia.
"We are again very close with Red Bull," Leclerc said.
"So it's going to be close racing."
But reigning world champion Verstappen believed being three-tenths of a second behind Leclerc in qualifying was a downer.
"I don't know if three-tenths is close.," he said.
"So far in qualifying it has not been amazing, just because of not having a great balance (with the car).
"I need to understand why that is, because at the moment it's just not been very enjoyable."