Daniel Ricciardo hits back at critics after sprint: 'Nice to keep a few people quiet'

Daniel Ricciardo has hit back at his critics following his starring drive to fourth in the Miami F1 sprint race.

Ricciardo qualified and finished fourth in the 100km sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix, giving RB their best result of the 2024 F1 season.

The Australian impressively defended from Ferrari's Carlos Sainz for the majority of the race to secure P4.

It's a big result for Ricciardo given his struggles this season, particularly in the opening four races.

Ricciardo was out-performed by Yuki Tsunoda in the opening four rounds, failing to out-qualify him on a single occasion.

However, China appears to be the turning point for the former McLaren driver, where the team introduced a new chassis.

Since then, Ricciardo has beaten Tsunoda in the three subsequent qualifying sessions, before securing an outstanding result in the sprint race.

Reflecting on his race, Ricciardo said: "Every big result always feels like it’s a needed one. It’s a happy feeling. It’s a powerful feeling to back up yesterday.

"Qualifying was obviously great but to back it up over the course of a sprint race. That’s even more satisfying. It feels very good and nice to also keep a few people quiet."

Ricciardo feels that the introduction of a new floor - as well as the chassis change - have been critical to his improved form.

"I think there’s two parts to it," he added. "We changed chassis in China and immediately I felt something. I felt more feeling, a bit more confidence in what the car was going to give me. It’s not that it was far off but it was just something missing compared to Yuki.

"I could just feel I wasn’t able to do what he was able to do in a lot of the corners. I knew there was something there. I think there was really something with the chassis. Maybe the team doesn’t think so but I do.

"And then we had a floor upgrade here and I think that’s helped us in the high-speed."