Daniel Ricciardo has been one of the stars of the weekend at the Miami Grand Prix. After qualifying fourth on Friday, many would have expected him to fall back in the sprint race.
But Ricciardo was far from a sitting duck. He even passed the Red Bull of Sergio Perez at the start.
Inevitably, Ricciardo lost that spot to the fastest car on the grid, but Carlos Sainz could not get past. The Australian spent virtually the entire race defending from the Ferrari, who had the aid of DRS.
But he held firm in a mighty effort to grab five points, his first haul of the season. He has a three-place penalty for the main Grand Prix, carried over the last race in China, but he’ll still hope to add to that tally.
Sainz, for his part, had a frustrating time staring at the rear wing of the RB. Teammate Charles Leclerc showed the potential of the car by splitting the two Red Bulls in second.
The Spaniard is, of course, fighting for his future in F1. Lewis Hamilton is replacing him at Ferrari next year, and he needs to impress other teams to earn a desirable seat.
How Carlos Sainz reacted losing Daniel Ricciardo battle
The two drivers got very close together indeed at the final corner as Sainz mounted one last DRS-powered attack on Ricciardo, but he couldn’t make a move. He knew there was only one point to be gained from a risky overtake.
Speaking live on Sky Sports F1, commentator Martin Brundle spotted the sporting gesture he made to Ricciardo after the chequered flag. The 29-year-old was magnanimous in defeat.
“Big thumbs up there from Sainz to Ricciardo,” Brundle observed.
Ricciardo is widely regarded as one of the most popular drivers in the F1 paddock. This is his first full season back with RB after his return midway through last year to replace Nyck de Vries.
Daniel Ricciardo delivers timely boost to RB prospects
Ironically, back at the end of March, a report claimed that Ricciardo had until Miami to save his drive at RB. Helmut Marko subsequently played down the prospect of another mid-season swap at RB, but this is nonetheless a huge result for Ricciardo.
He’d struggled significantly in the early rounds, while teammate Yuki Tsunoda stole the spotlight. Tsunoda scored the team’s first seven points, and beat Ricciardo in the first four qualifying sessions.
But there were signs of life from Ricciardo last time out in China. He had the edge on a Saturday for the first time all year and was in a strong position in the race until Lance Stroll hit him and left him with significant damage.
Crucially, the 34-year-old carried the positives from that weekend into Miami and has thus far produced one of his best performances since leaving Red Bull back in 2018. In fact, this is his best result in any race since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
The upturn in form coincides with a change of chassis, although the team say it’s no different to the original model. We simply don’t know whether or not that’s the case – perhaps it was simply a placebo effect.
Ricciardo knows that Liam Lawson, the man who replaced him for five races last year after he broke his wrist, is waiting in the wings. Red Bull apparently plan to give Lawson a seat at their junior team for 2025, which could set up a straight shoot-out between Ricciardo and Tsunoda.
The post Martin Brundle spots what Carlos Sainz did after Daniel Ricciardo beat him in Miami Grand Prix sprint race appeared first on F1 Oversteer.