Ricciardo has endured a difficult start to the season, with zero points from the opening five races and two DNFs, as he has been out-performed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
But after putting his car on the second row of the grid for Saturday's Sprint, the 34-year-old is optimistic that things are beginning to look better.
Speaking with Natalie Pinkham after the session on Sky Sports, Ricciardo said: "I know it's in me - but did I expect to do a second-row start? Probably not that good.
"I felt really good in SQ2 and I knew that lap would be good enough for SQ3. I think at that point I was P5 and in my head I was thinking 'P5 would be really nice for SQ3' and then we got P4.
"It was wild. The laps were good but it's hard to be really clean around here, it was a tricky track, and it's hard to. Both laps I kissed the wall, I was definitely pushing. I'm very proud of what I did today but also the team has been bringing upgrades the last few races.
"I had the chassis change in China and we had a new floor here, so it definitely looks like it's turning around.