The Australian is making his comeback with AlphaTauri at the Hungaroring this weekend after being drafted in as replacement for Nyck de Vries.
And although he was one of several drivers not to complete a flying lap in the rain-interrupted first practice session, he ended the afternoon’s FP2 running 14th, less than half a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Speaking after he got out of the car, Ricciardo felt there was still plenty of room for improvement but was encouraged that there was no major cause for alarm with his first experience of the AT04 car.
“Position [wise], it's probably not too relevant at the moment,” he said. “I think it was more just for me today to feel basically where I am with a car. And it all felt pretty familiar.
“I think obviously there's a lot of outside attention. But once I put the helmet on and got in the car, it all felt like in a way I never really left. So that was nice.”
Source: Autosport