Like other drivers after the race, Daniel Ricciardo showed signs of obvious physical wear and tear from the Florida humidity, and had to hydrate himself as soon as he got out of the car to avoid further damage.
All teams are struggling to save weight with their cars in 2022, and the Australian driver revealed he had to go out on track with less fluid than usual to avoid being further overweight.
He had to struggle with pace for most of the race, and even a late tire change during the safety car period caused by team-mate Lando Norris didn’t help much.
The McLaren driver crossed the finish line in 11th position but dropped a further two places due to an FIA penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage while battling Kevin Magnussen.
“There’s the heat factor,” Ricciardo said when asked by Motorsport.com if Miami could be compared to races like Singapore and Malaysia. “It’s hard too, because [this year] everyone is fighting for that last ounce.”
“So we don’t have the luxury of putting three liters into the drinking system, so we put a little, and it’s never enough. Obviously, you’re going to get dehydrated and in this heat even more,” he said.
“But we all suffered, we all worked like this today, it was hot, the drivers, the mechanics and everything felt it, continued a Ricciardo, who thought he had entered the points moments before knowing that he was 11th and that, in addition, he received a time penalty .
“Actually when I crossed the finish line I thought I was 10th. It’s hard to tell, obviously there are battles and cars coming from everywhere,” said the Australian. “But I was doing the math in my head thinking that enough cars had gone out or that I had passed to be in the points.
“We came up short so I don’t think there was any ‘what else could have been today’, we weren’t quick enough. , commented.
Ricciardo hoped that changing tires quite late in the race to the softs would give him a good advantage, but although he passed a few cars it didn’t make much of a difference.
“I was more excited about the safety car,” he said. “There was some car in front with old hard ones, and for me, that compound did not work, the tires did not seem good to me.”
“I thought we were going to have something more to show, I could be with the rest of the pack, but not enough. I just saw that I was 13th instead of 11th, I ran out of points, and I remember that I was with the Haas having good battles “, admitted Ricciardo after the test in Miami.
“Unfortunately it’s not to be in the top five, I’m not sure why I appear there, but I will investigate, the important thing is that it does not change my career,” continued the Australian, who is hopeful that his McLaren will be updated in Barcelona.
“It’s hard to tell, I hope we do better, because this weekend we were a bit more at the back and it was similar to last year, with those races like Zandvoort, with long corners fighting for points,” he warned.
“Barcelona was a better circuit for me last year so hopefully that means something,” said the Australian, who is 11th overall with 11 points.
