Weight saving on drink made Miami even tougher

All teams are struggling to save weight with their 2022 cars, and the Australian revealed that he’d had less fluid in his drinks bottle than he would have liked in the conditions.

He struggled for pace for most of the afternoon, and even a late switch to soft tyres during the safety car period that was triggered by his team mate Lando Norris didn’t help much.

He crossed the line in 11th place, but was demoted to 13th by a time penalty after going off track and gaining an advantage while battling with Kevin Magnussen.

Like other drivers after the race, Ricciardo clearly showed the effects of a hectic afternoon in the Florida humidity.

“Yeah, it’s got that heat factor to it,” Ricciardo said when asked by Motorsport.com if Miami compared to races like Singapore and Malaysia. “It’s tough as well, because I mean, everyone’s obviously fighting for that last bit of weight.

“So we don’t have the luxury of putting three litres in the drink system. So we have a little bit, and it’s never enough fluid. So naturally, you’re gonna get dehydrated. And yeah, this heat was was pretty real.

“They’re the tough ones, obviously. I mean, everyone obviously worked hard today, it is hot, drivers, mechanics, everyone’s feeling the heat.”

At the end of the race, Ricciardo thought that he just made the points, and only found out later that he was 11th on the road, prior to getting the penalty.

“Actually when I crossed the line, I honestly thought I was 10th,” he said. “It’s hard to know, obviously [there are] battles and cars going off here and there. But I was kind of doing a calculation in my head thinking that enough cars had kind of gone off, or I passed, to be somewhere inside the points.

“But yeah, we came up short. So I don’t think there were any ‘what could have beens’ today? We were just not quick enough. We were just hanging on. And I think when everyone’s in a tow, we’re still lacking a bit on the straights. I think obviously a little bit of a drag and stuff.”