Ricciardo forced to face 'reality' after Miami slide

Daniel Ricciardo can pinpoint exactly where his Miami Grand Prix weekend went awry.

On Saturday, Ricciardo recorded his best finish since his triumph at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix after finishing fourth in the sprint race at the Miami International Autodrome.

The former Red Bull driver stunned the competition the day before when he sealed the fourth-fastest lap during sprint qualifying.

However, his run of form earlier in the weekend did not carry over into qualifying as he fell down the grid with a loud thud.

After complaining of oversteer and finding himself stuck in traffic, Ricciardo qualified in 17th position — well off the pace of his earlier efforts.

With a three-place grid penalty from last month’s Chinese Grand Prix carried over, Ricciardo started the 57-lap race dead last.

The Western Australian finished 15th in the grand prix on Monday morning AEST having had little impact on the race — two of his improvements came when Logan Sargeant crashed out on lap 29 and after Lance Stroll’s 10-second time penalty was applied post-race.

Speaking afterwards, Ricciardo rued his poor performance in qualifying which put him on the back foot for the grand prix.