Ricciardo: Red Bull closer in cool Canadian GP race day weather

The Australian will start fourth on the grid after lapping 0.345 seconds off fastest qualifier Lewis Hamilton with air temperatures around the 15C mark and forecasts suggesting it could be a little lower for the race.

"Cooler temperatures will help us," said Ricciardo.

"On Friday, we struggled a bit with the hotter track temperature. Sure, if it was hot again we would make some changes to make ourselves better but I think we are a bit more competitive in the cooler conditions.

"We will be close, hopefully, and we can be there with Mercedes and Ferrari.

"Mercedes generally have a qualifying mode, so let's say if they have to turn their engines down a little bit [for the race] it could put us a lot closer.

"I would love a fight between all three teams, that would be awesome.

"As always, they [Mercedes] will be the ones to beat but we can be pretty close to them."

The threat of rain also gives Red Bull a chance to challenge for victory, even though Ricciardo does not believe those are the only conditions that could be good for his team.

"I wouldn't mind if it's raining, I'll accept it," he said.

"But as we showed, we are pretty close in the dry.

"Mixed conditions would be fun and if it's a bit of both, that would be cool."

With the long straights of Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve always expected to be a bigger challenge for the upgraded Renault power unit than Barcelona and Monaco were, Ricciardo is optimistic about Red Bull's performance.

"It has been really encouraging and nice to see," he said of his team's pace.

"Last year, especially at this time, we were not looking too good and things weren't looking like they were going to get better quickly.

"I was quite a long way off and we are a lot closer now - it is good that it hasn't just come from the car and we have got a big chunk from the power unit.

"There is obviously a lot less friction [with Renault] and everyone is in a much more positive, happy place.

"It helps with morale in the team and we are more motivated to keep improving."