MIAMI (Reuters) – Daniel Ricciardo savoured his first points of the Formula One season on Saturday and said it was good to silence some of his doubters.
The RB driver, who started the campaign tipped for a return to champions Red Bull next year but has struggled to deliver, started and finished fourth in the Miami sprint race for five points.
Fourth, albeit in a 100km race without pitstops, was the Australian’s highest placing in any format since 2021 when he was at McLaren.
“Every big result always feels like it’s a needed one. It’s a happy feeling, it’s a powerful feeling,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports television.
“Also to back up yesterday, (sprint) qualifying was obviously great, but to back it up over the course of a sprint race, that’s even more satisfying. So it feels very good, and nice to also keep a few people quiet.”
Ricciardo said every lap he could defend his position, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fifth, felt like a pat on the back.
He also credited a change of chassis at the previous race in China for giving him back some confidence in the car.
“Immediately I honestly felt something. I felt like more feeling, a bit more confidence in what the car was going to give me,” he added. “It’s not that it was far off but there was just something missing.
“Compared to (team mate) Yuki (Tsunoda) at the start of the year I could just feel like I wasn’t able to do what he was able to do in a lot of the corners. I knew there was something there so I think there really was something with the chassis.”
Ricciardo said a floor upgrade for Miami had also helped with high speed performance. Tsunoda finished eighth for the final sprint point.
Qualifying for Sunday’s main Grand Prix followed on Saturday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.