RB driver Daniel Ricciardo expressed it was “nice to remind people” what he can do in Formula 1 after taking a fourth-place finish in the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race.
Ricciardo pounced upon Sergio Perez’s failed attempt to pass Charles Leclerc at the start to seize third at Turn 1 and remained there as the Safety Car was deployed.
Although Perez would swoop past into Turn 11 on the restart, Ricciardo was able to keep Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz behind to secure his first points of the 2024 campaign.
Having endured a challenging beginning to the season, the Australian admitted that it felt “awesome” to be back battling at the front with a Ferrari in his wing mirrors.
“It felt, fighting towards the front just feels so much nicer, and you see a Ferrari in your mirrors and it’s like ‘Alright, challenge accepted, let’s do what we can’,” he said.
“To be honest every lap I was able to hold Carlos off, I kind of gave myself a little pat on the back every lap that passed.
“Then all of a sudden we’re closing into the finish and I was like ‘Alright, maybe we can actually really do this’.”
Despite track temperatures reaching as high as 45 degrees in Miami, Ricciardo revealed he was pushing flat out in order to prevent Sainz from mounting an attack.
“So it was a Sprint race in all forms of the word,” he added. “There was nothing left I could give, no tire-saving, nothing, just going for it.
“And I knew that’s what it was going to take to obviously hold onto that, so it feels good.
“The team, they deserve it, I think we all deserve it. We’ve gone through a bit of – I can’t swear, but we’ve gone through a bit of stuff to get here, so it’s also nice to remind some people.”
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