"In an off-road car, it's fun" - McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo compares Miami GP circuit to 'some of the surface' from his Australian farm

Daniel Ricciardo has weighed in on the bumpy conditions of the track at the Miami Grand Prix and compared the surface of the circuit to his farm in Australia.

While the track was not ideal in terms of grip and overtaking, he claimed that the drivers would be "too spoiled" to complain too much about it.

When asked if the conditions on the Miami International Autodrome were acceptable in the sport, the Aussie said (as reported by RacingNews365):

"I want to say no, but, obviously, that could just be us being too spoiled. But let's say, for what we have been used to - let's just put it like that - it's certainly a little more outback spec.

"It reminds me of some of the surface that I've got on my farm in Australia, that loose Australian gravel. In an off-road car, it's fun, but these Pirelli [tyres] aren't quite as switched on to this loose tarmac."

He added:

"It would be nice if it was a little different and we could use more of the track. When you're following someone, you want to run a little wide and cut back, criss-cross. When you try to criss-cross, you're off track. I saw people trying to make a move and crashing, like with [Sebastian] Vettel, [as] there was no grip on the inside. It made it hard to keep a clean race."

The Miami GP, as Lando Norris previously predicted, did not necessarily deliver as many exciting overtakes and wheel-to-wheel racing as American fans would have expected.

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Daniel Ricciardo claims that McLaren's lack of pace in Miami was specific to the track

McLaren had a nightmare Sunday in Miami last weekend. It was a day to forget for Daniel Ricciardo, who finished 13th. Meanwhile, his teammate Lando Norris was forced to retire after colliding with Pierre Gasly, leaving the team with zero points from the inaugural race.

The 32-year-old believes that the result may be a reflection of track-specific issues rather than an overall lack of pace.

In a post-race media interaction, Ricciardo admitted that the track simply did not suit his team's car:

"Unfortunately, the track played a bit more to our weaknesses than our strengths, so yeah, what do you do. We’ll keep at it, there’s a lot of things to observe, address and we’ll keep our eyes forward. I think this track certainly played to our weaknesses. Lots of long corners, lots of long straights, so we’ve got to work on that.”

McLaren have made significant improvements since the season opener in Bahrain and currently occupy fourth place in the championship standings. However, Daniel Ricciardo is 24 points behind Lando Norris in the drivers' standings.