A dreadful two-year spell came to a premature close at the end of 2022 when McLaren opted to pay off the third year of Ricciardo’s deal in order to replace him with rookie O💯scar Piastri.

It left the veteran driver without a full-time seat this season, and also shrouded his longer-term future in doub🥀t.

• Ricci🀅ardo wants F1 return but “💜not at any cost” | Eyes set on “top team”

“I will always take som🍷e responsibility or accounta🐼bility,” he said to .

“For many years I truly believed I was the best, and I am the best in the world, so whatever th💦e situation, I’ll be able to overcome it.

“And obvꦛiously with McLaren it was tough for me to do that.

“I was aware that I’m not the perfect drওiver, I do have weakn🐷esses. So I’ll always hold something on to myself.

“Having a bit of a chance to remove myself from it and now looking back on the last two years, I would have done things differently if 𒐪I had that time again - maybe ask more questions or been a little bit more demanding.

“But🍌 you also live ཧand you learn, so I don’t look back with regret. That was a situation and I got through it.”

Ricciardo is the thir🧔d driver for Red Bull this season but is expec☂ted to pursue a full-time seat next year.

“Now, ge🐭tting back into Red Bull, my confidence was probably not what it used 🐲to be as well.

“I was probably a little bit timid getting into the simulator, trying to d♛ownplay how it was going to go.

“But as the day went on, the more comfortable I felt, and the more it just felt like I was bac♕k home in a car that I honestly felt comfortable with.

“Everything fel🔯t like it was pretty recharged after that first day.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner aime📖d a dig at McLaren CEO Zak Brown when discussing 🌳Ricciardo recently.

“We ha⛄d to feed him up, I don’t know what you guys did to him,” Horner said.

“He looked skinny. He looks hea﷽lthier now. He’s training hard and ready to go, given a chance.”

Ricciardo revealed that his ambition is to return to a team near the top♏ of the F1 pecking order, saying:  “I don’t want to just be on the grid [in order] to be on the grid and struggle in 18th place.”