Daniel Ricciardo, who is 34 years old, achieved his best Formula 1 result since the Russian Grand Prix in 2021 while driving for McLaren. He managed to overtake Sergio Perez from Red Bull at the start of the race but lost his position to him later on after a safety car restart.
Although Perez got ahead, Ricciardo then faced pressure from Carlos Sainz of Ferrari for the remainder of the race. Despite this, Ricciardo successfully held off Sainz to secure his best finish for the McLaren team.
Ricciardo expressed his joy about the achievement in an interview with Sky Sports F1, saying, “Every big result feels like it’s a needed one. It’s a happy feeling, a powerful feeling. Also, to back up qualifying, it was obviously great, but to back it up over the course of a sprint race, that’s even more satisfying. So it feels very good and it’s nice to also keep a few people quiet.”
He attributed his improved performance to two main factors. Firstly, he mentioned a change in chassis during the Chinese Grand Prix, which immediately made him feel more confident and gave him better control over the car. He highlighted a floor upgrade in Miami, which further enhanced the car’s performance, especially in high-speed corners.
Regarding the pressure from Sainz during the race, Ricciardo decided not to conserve his tires and instead focused on defending his position. He explained, “I couldn’t breathe the whole race. I figured I’ll try my best to keep them behind, and if the tires go, then they go. I was like, every lap I could defend, for me, that was like a pat on the back. So, I was just like, ‘stop it – let’s just go’. And if my tires give up, then so be it. And they didn’t.”
