Ricciardo's Rollercoaster

Miami, 5 May – So far, the Miami weekend has been a real rollercoaster for Daniel Ricciardo. After a particularly difficult start to the season, regularly outpaced by his Racing Bulls team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, there had been signs of a revival for the Australian in Shanghai and yesterday, he got a real confidence boost in the form of a great, if unexpected, fourth place in Sprint Qualifying. 

He followed it up by repeating that result in the short race itself, proving to be a skilled defender, fending off Carlos Sainz from lap 5 all the way to the chequered flag. Even though the Spaniard nearly always had the advantage of DRS available, Ricciardo was able to close the door, eventually crossing the line a mere 251 thousandths ahead of his pursuer, to bring home his first points of the season.

It was the first time since last year's Mexican Grand Prix that Daniel had finished in the points, a factor which had raised the spectre of his being replaced by Liam Lawson as early as this current season, especially as the Red Bull bosses are not known for their patience when a driver's performance does not live up to expectations. Therefore, Ricciardo's fourth place in the Sprint seemed like the best possible response, except that four hour later came the cold shower to ruin his day.
When it came to qualifying, Ricciardo seemed to have fallen back into the difficulties that have characterised this first quarter of the season, failing to make the cut out of Q1. His disappointment and that of the team was thrown into sharp relief by the fact that Tsunoda fought his way into Q3 for the fourth time in the six qualifying sessions so far this year.
 

So, what expression can we expect to see on Ricciardo's face today afternoon? The frown from the photo on the left, or the smiling one on the right? We will have the answer in a few hours.