Written by James Cooney, Daily Mail Australia
May 4, 2024 23:42, Updated May 4, 2024 23:42
- Australian F1 star takes masterclass at Miami sprint race
- Ricciardo finishes 4th – best finish since 2021
- I was unable to reproduce my form in qualifying for the full Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo silenced his doubters with pride as he finished a tough fourth in the Miami Grand Prix sprint race.
The Australian RB driver defended his fourth place in Sunday’s race, overcoming his points deficit and earning his best finish since 2021, when he was with McLaren.
“A big achievement always feels like something you needed. It’s a happy feeling, a powerful feeling,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports.
“As a backup for yesterday, [sprint] Qualifying was obviously great, but I’ll be even more satisfied if I can back that up in the sprint race.
“So it feels really good and nice to quiet some people down.”
Ricciardo said recent changes to the car have been a huge benefit.
“I honestly felt something right away. I felt like I had more emotion and a little more confidence in what this car was going to give me,” he said.
“It wasn’t that far away, but there was just something missing.
‘compared to [teammate] Yuki [Tsunoda] At the beginning of the year, a lot of corners felt like they couldn’t do what he did. I really think there was something in the chassis because I knew there was something there. ”
The West Aussie moved into third place during the race, but was overtaken by Sergio Perez.
Max Verstappen took the win, finishing 3.3 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Unfortunately, Ricciardo’s on-track heroics were short-lived and he had fallen to 18th on the grid at the end of Monday morning (AEST) Grand Prix qualifying.
Commentators said this was a “rude awakening” for driver Ricciardo after his performance in previous sprint races.