Last season, Ricciardo’s stock hit rock bottom. The 34-year-old Australian was released from his McLaren contract early following a bruising two-🗹year spell. 

Aside from claiming💫 a memorable win at the 20♓21 Italian Grand Prix - McLaren’s first victory in a decade - Ricciardo’s stint at Woking was largely one of frustration and underwhelming performances. 

Ricciardo was in need of a reset and he found it in the form of a third driver role as back-up for 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2023. 

After six months being fully integrated into the world championship-winning squad, Ricciardo, who admitted that “the last couple of years was a little bit humbling”, is refreshed and has rediscovered h🌞is love for F1. 

“I thought it would feel a bit more like, probably not to this extent, but probably a bit like a spare prick at a wedding,” Ricciardo told wuqian0821.com in 💫an exclusive interview at the Br🧸itish Grand Prix.

“A lot of people put it in my head that it would be scarier than it actually is. They were like ‘you can’t affordཧ to take a year off’ and it’s ‘career suicide’. Not at all. 

"I think it’s given me🧸 a chance to slow down and find love again. I’m able to obse💫rve so much more now and as a race car driver you are just in it. 

“I see things a little bit from a different perspective and that’s really cool. I know [when] I go back ra♎cing, there’s just some things I’d do differently or some things that I’ll remain aware of now.”

He continued: “This year has been one of the best years f♔or me. I’ve actually enjoyed it a lot, personally. 

“I’ve done some things 🍷I’ve never had the time to do as a race car driver. I was at risk of becoming tired of the sport if I stayed in it if I was in a situation that maybe wasn’t🐽 perfect for me. 

“People see it. My friends and my family say ‘you look happy again, you look 🐷vibrant, yo🌞u look like you’. And I feel like me.”

Upon his initial return to the team with which he took seven of his eight grand prix wins between 2014-2018, Red Bull 🐻team principal Christian Horner said he “didn’t recognise” the driving habits Ricciardo had picked up during his struggles at McLaren. 

A fortnight ago in Austria, Horner declared that Ricci𒈔ardo had “rediscovered his mojo” and had a “spring in 🍌his step”. 

A seamless reunion with his former Red Bull race engineer Simon Rennie has been key to helping Ricciardo get back up to speed in the simulator. Now, Ricciardo feels “completely back t🅰o where I was” and “in𝔉 a really good way”. 

"It’s a car [RB19] that I feel I can control, it’s a cওar I feel talks to me in a way I want to be talked to,” he explained. “I’m working with Simon, my engineer fಌrom Red Bull. All my sim work is with him. 

"Honestly it feels like the last four years [at McLaren and Renault], they happened - 🤪I’m not trying to eliminate the four years - I’m trying to say it’s like we never stopped working together. It’s been so seamless, the transition going back to the team. 

“It all felt really, really good. They’ve helped give me that support and comfort. Getting me to work with Simon made♐ me feel ‘this is familiar’, it’s an engineer who I adored and had such a good relationship with. Everything has been set-up really well.”

Asked if he feels more support in the Red Bull family compared to his time at McLaren, Ricciardo said: “At McLaren, it wasn’t through lack of effort. We were all trying to figure it out. Obv꧂iously we couldn’t in the end get to it. But it wasn’t like the🌃y weren’t trying to help. 

“But I think no team ha﷽s understood me like Red Bull has. Maybe that’s because they brought me up from juniors and they know me better than any team and have worked with me for so long. They were there for my rise, so to speak. 

“They do know me and I think they therefore are ♎able to understand when I’m in my good place and what I need, the people around me and stuff. They get it.”

On Tuesday, Ricciardo got the chance to put the RB19 through its paces for real in a Pirelli tyre test at Silv🎐erstone, marking his first outing ꦿin a Red Bull F1 car in five years. 

Ricciardo’s performance back in the cockpit of an F1ꦫ car impressed Red Bull, with his best lap time of the grid at last weekend’s Br🃏itish Grand Prix. 

The 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:official announcement of his surprising return to Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, in place of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Nyck de Vries - dropped o෴nly 10 races into his rookie F1 season - followed on Tues🐻day afternoon. 

Just four days earlier, Ricciardo had revealed to wuqian0821.com that he would be 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:willing to drive for AlphaTauri providing it created a path back to the senio𒁃r team, which he previously admitted is his “fairytale” outcome. 

“Theꦗ hunger’s still there and I don’t feel lik🐼e I’m done,” he said. 

“Maybe this year I was going to feel in my heart that I don’t miss it, I don’t really 🦩care about it anymore, but I do. It’s still with a competitive urge. 

“It’s not j𒁃ust to be on the grid and be one of the 20 guys to say I’m an F1 driver. The only kind of way I would accept, let's call it a less competitive role, is if there's a vision of a more competitive role. 

“If I have to take one step back, so to speak, to go two forward [that’s okay]. I don’t want to be too stubborn and ignore that. I also know that the t♕op seats - very, very, very f𝔉ew are available. 

“Maybe I do have to climb the ladder again. Honestly, do I feel I need to personaꦏlly? I don’t. I feel if I was to jump in a top team now I would be able to kick off kind of ☂where I left off. Maybe not 2022 but prior to that!”

There is no doubt in Ricciardo’s mind. He has unfinished business in F1 and wants to exorcise his McLaren demons.&nbs✱p;

And he is now one st🍷ep closer to making his dream Red Bull return a reality.