The Australian driver, who has been facing significant pressure, achieved a much-needed impressive result. Ricciardo’s return to the Red Bull team through VCARB has not been particularly remarkable. In fact, many have been advocating for reserve driver Liam Lawson to take his place, as Dan’s performance has often been overshadowed by Yuki Tsunoda.
To address this, Ricciardo requested a new chassis, which VCARB provided somewhat skeptically. Whether the chassis was truly the issue or if it was simply a placebo effect, the old Ricciardo was back.
And he was well aware of it: “I know I have the ability, but did I expect to qualify on the second row? Probably not that well. I felt really confident in SQ2, and I knew that lap would be good enough for SQ3. At that point, I was in fifth place, and in my mind, I was thinking ‘Fifth place would be really nice for SQ3,’ and then we achieved fourth place.
“It was exhilarating. The laps were solid, but it’s difficult to navigate this track flawlessly. It’s a challenging circuit. I kissed the wall on both laps; I was definitely pushing. I’m extremely proud of what I accomplished today, but credit also goes to the team for bringing upgrades over the past few races.
“I had a chassis change in China, and we had a new floor here, so it seems like things are turning around. It’s just wonderful to start near the front,” explained Ricciardo, in his first race in Miami. Last year, Nyck de Vries was the one behind the wheel.
In the Miami Sprint Race team report, the Australian driver added, “It appears that things are improving, and I’m very proud of what both the team and I achieved today. We had a strong session starting from SQ1, even though I made a mistake on the first lap, which put us under a bit of pressure.
“Let’s see what happens in the Sprint race, but it’s much better to be starting from the front rows. This can definitely help us avoid getting caught up in any chaos during the initial phase of the race. I would love to score some points,” Ricciardo added, his signature smile returning.
Dan will begin the race from the second row alongside Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in third place on the grid, while his teammate Max Verstappen, who clinched pole position, will start from the top spot, and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari will line up in second place.
In contrast, in the sister VCARB team, there was an almost peculiar role reversal, with Yuki Tsunoda nowhere near his teammate after consistently outperforming him throughout this and last season. The Japanese driver had little to say: “SQ1 went well, so the car had potential, but in the end, we weren’t able to maximize its performance.
“We tried to push hard, but it didn’t work out. I also couldn’t put everything together. In hindsight, maybe two pushes would have worked better for us, but the pace the car showed gives me confidence for the rest of the weekend,” Tsunoda concluded.
Alan Permane, the racing director of VCARB, summarized his team’s Friday in Miami as a highly successful session for them and their driver Daniel. The car performed exceptionally well right from the start of the morning practice, thanks to an upgraded floor that met their expectations. This boost in performance gave Daniel the confidence to push the car to its limits on the challenging track, surrounded by walls. As a result, he secured a fourth-place starting position for the Sprint race.
However, there were some setbacks for Yuki in the second qualifying session (SQ2). Despite being happy and confident in the car throughout the day, something went wrong during his runs in SQ2. Yuki had initially planned to go for a single timed lap in SQ2, which seemed like the right decision based on his performance in the first qualifying session (SQ1). Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as expected. The team will thoroughly analyze the situation to understand what went wrong. Nevertheless, there are still more opportunities in the weekend to get Yuki back towards the front of the grid.
For Ricciardo, this qualifying session marks his best performance since the Mexican Grand Prix last year when he achieved a similar result with the AlphaTauri (now VCARB) car. Starting from fourth position, he may be considered slightly out of place for his car’s potential. Today’s race will determine whether this result was a lucky occurrence or a genuine reflection of his capabilities.
Regardless, it is evident that we witnessed the true Ricciardo today. However, it is important to remember that one good performance does not guarantee continued success. Ricciardo will need to replicate his impressive performance in the Sprint Race Qualifying throughout the weekend, just as F1’s benchmark driver Max Verstappen consistently does in every session.