F1 | Ricciardo fourth: “I hope it silences a few people”

A fourth place which represents a breath of fresh air, as necessary as it was sought after at the end of a difficult period of which he now sees the end. The Daniel Ricciardo seen in this first part of the weekend in Miami seems very different from the one observed in the first part of the championship, as in a path since the last Chinese Grand Prix has seen him return to high levels.

One swallow does not make a summer, an expression that could well be applied in this case too, but the Australian believes there are reasons to look at the rest of the weekend and, more generally, the rest of the championship with greater confidence.

Today’s fourth place in the sprint, which adds to the one obtained yesterday in the Sprint Qualifying, is in a certain sense proof of this, a sign of a Ricciardo who doesn’t give up and who, when in form, can still have his say. After gaining third position at the start due to an error by Perez, the Racing Bulls driver tried to manage, but clearly managing to stay in front of the Mexican was a difficult task, so much so that a few laps later the counter-overtaking took place.

At that point, it seemed that the Australian could also be prey to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who was fifth at the time and desperately looking for an overtaking that would allow him to stay in the train with Perez, but that maneuver never came. Ricciardo defended himself admirably, taking advantage of both good top speed on the straights and a very particular layout, which makes it difficult to follow a rival closely and, even more so, to then attempt to overtake. A tough defense that materialized round after round.

“It’s a fantastic feeling. Clearly fighting at the front is much nicer, then you see a Ferrari in the mirrors and you say to yourself ‘challenge accepted, let’s do what we can!’. Every lap I managed to finish with Carlos behind me I gave myself a pat on the back. Then the end approached and I thought I could really do it.”

“I couldn’t manage the tyres, I gave everything I had. The team deserves it, I think we all deserve it. There was a journey to get here, so it’s a good feeling,” said Ricciardo at the end of the race.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“Every great achievement is always as if it were necessary. It’s a feeling of happiness, a strong feeling. Also, going back to yesterday, qualifying was obviously fantastic, but doing well in a sprint race is even more satisfying, so I feel very good and I hope that [questo risultato] silence some people.”

“Throughout the race I thought I’d try, do my best to keep Sainz behind. I said to myself, let’s push and if my tires were to give out, never mind,” added the Australian who gave everything to maintain a fourth place which is really good for morale.

The good performance over the course of this weekend follows the signs seen in China, the race in which he changed the chassis after having found a poor feeling with the single-seater in the first rounds, so much so that it led him to doubt whether there really was some problem with the body. backup.

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Although the team had expressed some doubts on this topic, according to Ricciardo the chassis change actually had the desired effects and the feeling improved immediately. Furthermore, Racing Bulls also brought a new surface that improves the load in the fast corners, precisely those in which the Australian driver had shown greater difficulties than Yuki Tsunoda. In Japan the Faenza team had already introduced some updates, but they were aimed at improving performance in slow corners, while here the focus was on high speeds.

“I think there are two aspects: we changed the chassis in China and I immediately felt something more, a little more feeling, a little more confidence in what the car would give me. It’s not that I was very far away, but there was something missing. Compared to Yuki, at the beginning of the year, I felt I wasn’t able to do what she did in certain sections, so I knew something was wrong,” Ricciardo recounted.

“So I think there was indeed something in the chassis, although perhaps the team still doubts it. But I think so. Then we brought an update to the bottom and I think this helped us in high-speed corners.”