Last season, Ricciardo’s stock hiꦗt 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 2021 Italian Grand Prix - McLaren’s first victory in a deca🥀de - 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澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2023. 

After six months being fully integrated into the wꦫorld championship-winning squad, Ricciardo, who admitted that “💟the last couple of years was a little bit humbling”, is refreshed and has rediscovered his 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 ltxcn.top in an exc🎉lusive interview at the British 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 a🐼fford to take a year off’ and𝔉 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 observe so much more now and as a race ca🐭r 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 racing, 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 for me. I’ve act🅰ually 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 vibran🌠t, you 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 driᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚving habits Ricciardo had picked up during his struggles a🔥t McLaren. 

A fortnight ago in Austria, Horner declared that Ricciardo had “rediscovered his mojo” and had 𝔉a “spring in his step🍒”. 

A seamless reunion with his former Red Bull race engineer Simon Rennie has been key to helping R✱icciardo g꧂et back up to speed in the simulator. Now, Ricciardo feels “completely back to where I was” and “in a really good way”. 

"It’s a car [RB19] that I feel I can control, it’s a car I feel talks to me in a way I want to be talked to♏,” he explained. “I’m working with Simon, my engineer from 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 𒐪with Simon made me feel ‘this is familiar’, it’s an engineer who I adored and had such a good relatio♌nship 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 try♚i🙈ng to figure it out. Obviously we couldn’t in the end get to it. But it wasn’t like they weren’t trying to help. 

“But I think no team has understood🧸 me like Red Bull has. Maybe that’s becauseও 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 g🌺ood 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 Silverstone, marking his first o💦uting in a Red Bull F1 car in five years. 

Ricciardo’s performance back in the cockpit o♊f an F1 car impressed Red Bull, with his best lap time of the grid at last weekend’s British Grand Prix. 

The 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:official announcement of his surprising return to Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri, in place of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Nyck de Vries - dropped on♉ly 10 races into his rookie F1 season - followed on Tuesday afternoon. 

Just four days earlier, Ricciardo had revealed to ltxcn.top that he would be 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:willing to drive for AlphaTauri providing it created a path back to the senior team, which he previously admitted is his “fairytale” o💛utcome. 

“The hunger’s still there and I don’t feel like I’m done,”൲ 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 just 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 vi🅠sion 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 top seats - very, very, very few are available. 

“Maybe I do have to climb the ladder again. Honestly, do I feel I ne꧑ed to personally? I don’t. I feel if I was to jump in a top team now I would be able to kick off kind 𓃲of 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 McLa♊ren d🙈emons. 

And he is no🧔w one step closer to making h🔜is dream Red Bull return a reality.