Daniel Ricciardo comeback? Bold ambitions in Miami after breakthrough moment

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo on track during the 2024 Miami Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo broke into the top four in Sprint Qualifying in Miami, his highest grid slot of the season.

Having struggled through the opening handful of races of the 2024 F1 season, Daniel Ricciardo’s turnaround continued with a stellar performance in Miami as he qualified in fourth for the Sprint.

Daniel Ricciardo fifth in SQ2, improves to fourth in SQ3

With Yuki Tsunoda falling out of qualifying during the second part of the session, it was in stark contrast to Daniel Ricciardo’s performance as the Australian set the fifth-fastest time of the session to make it into the top 10.

Astonishingly, Ricciardo then went one better again in SQ3 to finish with the fourth-quickest time – beating both Aston Martins, the upgraded McLarens, and even Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Having had a largely anonymous season up until now as he is one of seven drivers yet to score a point, Ricciardo will break his duck if he finishes in the top eight in the Sprint race.

“I’ve been able to do it before, so I know it’s in me,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1 as he beamed his famous grin following Sprint Qualifying.

“Did I expect to do a second-row start? Probably not that good! I felt really good in Q2 and I knew that lap would be good enough for Q3.

“I think, at that point, we were P5 and in my head, I was like ‘Ah, P5 would be really nice for Q3.’

“Then we got P4 and it was wild, because the laps were good but it’s hard to be really clean around here.

“It’s just a tricky track. That middle sector, jumping across the chicane… It’s hard to get it right.”

Ricciardo was one of several drivers to tap the wall exiting Turn 16, with Ricciardo saying “the first one was a hit, it actually felt pretty big” but it hadn’t affected his performance.

“I was definitely pushing. I don’t know if that helped my lap time,” he said. “It was really good, and obviously, I’m very proud of what I did today.”

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Ricciardo’s resurgence has coincided with RB giving him a new chassis at the Chinese Grand Prix, due to a niggling worry that something may have been off about the chassis he used for the opening handful of races.

The team also introduced a new floor body and diffuser in Miami, and Ricciardo said everything seems to now be going in the right direction.

“The team has been bringing updates the last few races,” he said.

“Obviously, I had the chassis change last race in China and we had a new floor here, so things definitely look like it’s turning around.”

From his fourth-place grid slot, can Ricciardo even dream of a podium?

“Certainly. I can dream of everything!” he laughed.

“Look, it’s just nice starting towards the front, even from the point of view of just kind of being out of that mid-pack, there’s normally a bit of chaos.

“So, hopefully, you kind of go with the leaders at the beginning. Obviously, it’s a short race so, hopefully, just get kind of through enough of it with them in the first few laps and deal with a good bag of points.”