Daniel Ricciardo achieved his best result in 2024 so far when he came fourth in the sprint race at the Miami GP in Formula 1held this Saturday, and fired claims that the ‘achievement’ was good for “keeping some people quiet”.
The 34-year-old Australian managed to maintain his Ferrari in Carlos Sainz behind his RB throughout the race after being surpassed by Sergio Pérez in the safety car restart – caused by the incident between Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
“Every great result is necessary,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports. “It’s a great feeling, a feeling of power. It feels really good and it’s also good for keeping some people quiet.”
When asked what made a difference to his performance in Florida, the Australian pointed to two factors: “We changed the chassis in China and, honestly, I felt a difference straight away. I felt more confident about where the car was taking me.”
Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
“It’s not that it was far off, but something was missing. Compared to Yuki at the beginning of the year, I felt like I couldn’t do most of what he did in the corners. I knew there was something there. I believe there really was something with the chassis , maybe the team still believes not, but I do. And with the floor upgrade we brought here, it helped us at high speed.”
Speaking about the pressure suffered by Sainz during the second half of the race, Ricciardo chose to keep his tires and risk losing some positions.
“I didn’t breathe the whole race. I thought, ‘I’ll try to keep him behind and if the tires run out, that’s it.’ It was like every lap I could defend, they gave me a pat on the back. But at the same time, I kept thinking: ‘stop it, let’s just go’ and if my tires die, so be it.
