Daniel Ricciardo, the smiling assassin has had little to cheer about of late. Still, that narrative is starting to change for the multiple Grand Prix winner with the catalyst of a fourth-place result in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying session giving the RB driver a new lease of life.
The goal for Ricciardo coming into 2024 was clear, both from an outside perspective and personal, to beat Yuki Tsunoda, convincingly.
That is the only way Ricciardo can claw his way back into the Red Bull set-up he departed at the end of 2018, sparking a downward spiral he has yet to recover from fully.
However, on Friday, with Tsunoda out in SQ2 and in 15th place, Ricciardo advanced to the final top-10 shootout convincingly before stamping his authority on a second-row spot for Saturday’s Sprint race.
The age-old saying goes, ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent,’ but ever since F1 switched to ground effect regulations in 2022 Ricciardo has looked far off of his brutal best.
On his day, Ricciardo’s tenacity powered him to eight GP victories and his wheel-to-wheel nous granted him the nickname ‘Honey Badger.’
It’s early days but a 1:28.044 laptime around the Miami International Autodrome on Friday, just four-tenths shy of Sprint polesitter Max Verstappen is proof the tide is starting to turn in Ricciardo’s favour.
“I don’t know,” was Ricciardo’s response when asked where his P4 Sprint Qualifying performance came from, before doubling down and speaking on the ability that has elevated him to top-tier status for the majority of his F1 career.
“I mean I know, I’ve been able to do it before, so I know it’s in me, but yeah, I mean did I expect to do a second-row start? Probably not that good, you know, I felt really good in SQ2 and I knew that lap would be good enough for SQ3.
“I think at that point we were P5 and in my head I was like, ah P5 would be really nice for SQ3, and then we got P4 and it was, yeah, it was wild.
“I mean the laps were good, but they were, you know, it’s hard to be really clean around here, it’s just a tricky track and you know, that little middle sector jumping across the chicane, it’s hard to get it right, so both laps I hit the wall on the exit of [Turn] 16.
“The first one was a hit, it actually felt pretty big, but yeah, kissed the wall, so I was definitely pushing, I don’t know if that helped my lap time, but yeah, it was really good and obviously I’m very proud of what I did today, but also the team has been bringing updates to the last few races, obviously I had the chassis change last race in China.”
If there was a glimmer of hope for Ricciardo it started in China, where he out-qualified team-mate Yuki Tsunoda on two occasions and was odds on for a GP points finish before the much-talked-about clash with Lance Stroll during a Safety Car restart.
“The first four races [of 2024] for me were… yeah, interesting,” Ricciardo told media including Motorsport Week on Thursday.
“I definitely felt a lot better in China. Hopefully, that’s the real start of my season.”
The Australian could be considered a fortune teller if he converts his fourth-place start into a strong finish in Saturday’s Sprint and he’s in a better position than he has been in a long while to do so.
“I can dream of everything,” he said in his Friday discussion post Sprint Qualifying.
“It’s just so nice starting towards the front, you know, even from the point of view, even just kind of being out of that mid-pack, that kind of normally a bit of chaos.
“Hopefully [I] kind of go with the leaders at the beginning and then obviously, yeah, it’s a short race, so hopefully get through enough of it with them in the first few laps and end up with a good bag of points.”
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