Daniel Ricciardo has admitted the time he spent on the sidelines since the end of last season has allowed him to fall in love with F1 again.
After two difficult seasons with McLaren, the Australian was unsure of his future at the end of 2022.
At the time, he stepped away, uncertain whether he would return, but took on the reserve driver role with Red Bull to keep the door open.
Over the past eight months, that has seen his motivation to compete return, and meant he jumped when given a chance to replace Nyck de Vries and Scuderia AlphaTauri.
“I had enough time off to, let’s say reset, but also just kind of enjoy it again,” Ricciardo said in Hungary on Thursday.
“I already felt that on the simulator so far this year, but then also that’s why I wanted to drive the car and really make sure that it’s still obviously truly what I love doing most.
“And yeah, I was up to speed really quick and it felt so good again.
“Tasting the Red Bull car got me pretty excited.”
Ricciardo drove the all-conquering Red Bull RB19 at Silverstone in a Pirelli tyre test last week.
It was his first outing in a car since last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the first real-world test of the progress he’s made off-track.
Ricciardo previously stated that he was only interested in returning to the F1 grid with a front-running team.
Scuderia AlphaTauri sits 10th in the constructors’ championship.
That speaks to a change in mindset and a return of his appetite to compete.
“I knew also when I everything that happened, [over] the last few years and getting back into the sport, taking some time off, I knew it would be very hard to go back at the top,” he explained.
“So of course that was my wish but I think also, you’d need to be realistic at some point and say, ‘Okay, if I want to get back to say a Red Bull seat, then it’s going to take a bit of a process and a path’.
“This, for me, is the best path at the moment.
“Six months ago, I probably wasn’t in a place to jump on an opportunity like this but that’s been the luxury of time now where I’ve just felt so much more…
“I guess I’ve fallen in love with it again. I feel like I’ve been myself again, probably back as well in an environment that just gives me a lot of nostalgia; I spent a lot of my career here and a lot of my journey and I kind of my junior days were here.
“So talking to Helmut again more regularly, it feels like it’s where I belong.
“So, yeah, when the opportunity came, I thought ‘Absolutely, let’s try’.”
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