Ricciardo relieved: 'I’m glad that the bulk of it is over'

Amid the ongoing uncertainty over his future in Formula 1, it felt like a relief for the 33-year-old Australian to get back in his car at the Belgian Grand Prix. That way he could finally put all the events behind him and have a bit of fun again, the McLaren driver said.

McLaren have had to pay Ricciardo a substantial fee for ending his contract early, but that will come as little consolation to the eight-time race winner. He admits he struggled to enjoy the race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, but found he could once he got behind the wheel.

"It certainly hasn’t been the most fun weekend going through all this, but at the same time it was nice to get back in the car and just try to put everything behind me and have a bit of fun," Ricciardo is quoted by Racer.com. As soon as the red lights came on he could smile again and was happy to be back racing.

While Ricciardo could enjoy the racing itself, he could not so much enjoy all the fuss around it. "I’m glad that the bulk of this announcement is done, and hopefully it gets a bit more fun for the last eight," the Australian concluded. A successful weekend might help that, something McLaren failed to do at Spa. After strong qualifying for both Ricciardo and Lando Norris, the team saw both drivers finish outside the points.