Daniel Ricciardo adjudged that the RB team was “met with reality” during the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix after only managing 15th from a back-of-the-grid start.
RB had pace throughout the weekend and that was backed by Ricciardo’s fantastic showing in the Sprint.
The Australian sprinkled a bit of the old Honey Badger magic upon the Miami International Autodrome circuit on Friday, posting the fourth-fastest qualifying time for the Sprint which he duly converted to a fourth-place finish on Saturday morning.
However, struggles with tyre warm-up in GP Qualifying landed Ricciardo with a Q1 exit and at the back of the grid once his three-place grid penalty from China was applied.
“Coming into a race I’m always hopeful and optimistic and excited, but I think we’re quickly met with the reality that it’s not the same when we’re in traffic,” Ricciardo said after the GP.
Obviously [Saturday] I was able to use the pace and have a clear track and just use the downforce and the grip of the car, but today in these battles and with dirty air, we struggle.
“I think a lot of the cars we raced had lower downforce, so trying to attack and defend was simply just not a straightforward one for us.
“It just goes back to qualifying, it’s so important. Obviously yesterday I was upset with the grip I had on that set of tyres, and obviously I still feel that way, but also I’ll always look at myself as well, and I was like, yeah, I could have still done a little bit better here and there, so I’ll still hold myself accountable for sessions like that.
“We just know we’re quick, but we’re not quick enough to start at the back and chop through the field.
“We’re simply not, so we’ve got to qualify better.”
Ricciardo’s sentiment was backed up by Yuki Tsunoda’s GP performance.
The Japanese driver had no issue switching on the tyres during qualifying and earned himself a slot in Q3 and lined up 10th for Sunday’s race.
From there, Tsunoda was able to convert to a seventh-place finish and continue RB’s points scoring in 2024.
In total, RB added 12 points to its tally at Miami, taking the team to 19 in total so far.
This has helped the Faenza-based outfit solidify its sixth-place position in the Constructors’ standings, 12 ahead of seventh-placed Haas.
Moreover, if Ricciardo can continue his Sprint form at Imola next weekend, RB will have a two-pronged attack to pick up the scraps left by F1’s heavy hitters.
