Ricciardo hopeful: 'I have enough confidence in the car'

Practice results were average for Ricciardo. At first practice, he reached 11th place, just under two tenths behind Sebastian Vettel. He closed second practice in fifteenth place, but with Pirelli's tyre test dominating practice, that result is not very relevant. Despite a place outside the top ten at first practice, Ricciardo remained optimistic about the team's results.

"It was nice to be back, so a good day. We had a couple of issues here and there but I think, nonetheless, a good day. We found a few things to work on but also, I think we made steps on some set-up stuff, so I think all we need is a smooth day tomorrow."

'I have enough confidence in the car'

Among constructors, McLaren hopes to finish fourth this year, but to do so it will have to trounce Alpine. Based on the practice sessions, Ricciardo cannot say whether it will succeed this weekend.

"It’s hard to know competitor-wise, where we are compared to the others, but I think for the most part I had a decent feeling, and when the car was in a good place, I had enough confidence in it."

The previous race had a dramatically bad result for Ricciardo. He finished the US Grand Prix in second-to-last place without a technical problem to excuse that poor result.