- Ricciardo finished fourth fastest in qualifying
- He beats a host of rivals, including fellow Australian Oscar Piastri.
- Expect a great result in Saturday’s sprint race
Daniel Ricciardo put in an impressive performance at the Miami Grand Prix, posting the fourth-fastest time in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race.
The result marked his best qualifying session of the season, improving significantly with his VCARB vehicle.
Ricciardo beat the Mercedes, all the McLarens and a Ferrari, placing him above his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 15th.
Max Verstappen, the world champion, took pole position for Sunday’s sprint race.
The only drivers faster than Ricciardo were Verstappen, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez.
Ricciardo also finished ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Tsunoda close behind in 15th.
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell did not advance to Q3.
Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has surprised the rest with a fourth place in the Miami GP classification.
Ricciardo beat a host of big names to earn his place on the second row and said even he was surprised by the result.
F1 commentator Martin Brundle praised Ricciardo’s performance, calling it a significant demonstration of his talent.
“What a performance by Daniel Ricciardo, he’s finally showing us what he’s capable of,” he said.
It was a result that surprised even Ricciardo himself.
‘I know it’s on me, but did I expect to start from the second row? It’s probably not that good,’ she said.
‘I felt very good in SQ2 and I knew that lap would be good enough for SQ3. I think at the time I was P5 and in my head I was thinking ‘P5 would be really good for SQ3’ and then we got P4.
“It was crazy because the laps were good, but it’s hard to be really clean around here, it was a complicated track and in that middle sector it’s hard to do well.” On both laps I kissed the wall, the first one was a blow, it felt quite big.
“I was definitely pushing. It was really good. I’m very proud of what I did today, but the team has also been making improvements in the last few races.
“The last race in China they changed the chassis and here we had a new floor, so it definitely seems like we are improving.”
Modifications to Ricciardo’s VCARB vehicle, including a new chassis, make the Australian feel confident again
Now that Ricciardo has earned a spot on the second row, he hopes to finish strong and get a “bag of points.”
Now the Australian driver hopes to take advantage and compete with the best drivers for a podium.
‘Certainly. “I can dream of everything,” Ricciardo said.
‘It’s very nice to start towards the front. Even from the standpoint of being outside of that middle group, it’s usually a bit of chaos.
“Hopefully you go with the leaders, it’s a short race so I hope to get enough of a pass on them and finish with a big bag of points.”
Ricciardo has shown steady improvement, beating Tsunoda in China and finishing in the top 10 before an incident with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.
Ricciardo aims to compete closely with the leaders in the next race, with the aim of getting the best points. Despite taking pole, Verstappen expressed surprise at his performance due to several problems he faced.
