Ricciardo left confused after "chaotic" Q3 even though he still finished fourth on the timesheets.

"It was chaos," he told reporters in the moments after today's session, "everyone had handling issues out there

"I thought it was a pretty terrible balance," he continued, "even on the last lap I don't know how I went quicker, I think I was four-tenths slower than my previous lap by Turn 6.

"It was a handful. We didn't expect the perfect car, when the altitude is like this and the grip is nowhere, but that wasn't a great race car. From that, fourth is great, though a bit lucky! But, when I see pole is four tenths away, we missed that in the first sector even. It's tricky out there."

As in Austin, the Australian will start on the supersoft tyres, as will his teammate, while the Mercedes duo ahead will be on the softs.

At the start of last week's race he nailed Nico Rosberg in the first corner to take second, a feat he aims to repeat tomorrow.

"I managed to get one last weekend, so hopefully we'll get two... and there's Max as well," he said. "It's a long run tomorrow, and I think starting on supersoft worked out for us in Austin.

"I'm alright for the race," he added, "but qualifying was weird and confusing.

"And Ferrari as well, if I'm not happy with my balance, I don't know what they're saying."

Check out our Saturday gallery from Mexico City, here.