Daniel Ricciardo says he wasn't chasing a second wind but admits he's a "very hungry young man again" after re-signing with AlphaTauri.
The Perth product will return to Red Bull's sister team alongside Yuki Tsunoda in 2024, marking his first full season since 2022 at McLaren.
After being axed at the end of last year, Ricciardo was resigned to the possibility he may never return to Formula 1 and considered life after racing.
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"This time a year ago I was honestly unsure about really just what I wanted," he said.
"My whole life has really been racing, and I've put everything into it, so you're not really sure when that time is going to come where, 'Oh, maybe is it time for change?'.
"I was definitely questioning, 'Oh, am I going to have those feelings that this is it?'"
Ricciardo was given a lifeline by Red Bull at the end of 2022 to join the team as its so-called third driver.
By then, Red Bull had already signed Nyck de Vries to AlphaTauri after a spectacular debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix in which he scored points with a ninth place finish for Williams.
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However, what followed was far from Red Bull's expectations as he failed to score points in the first half of the season and languished behind teammate Tsunoda.
By the 10th race of the season, de Vries was gone. Ricciardo's mid-season tyre test with Red Bull went so well that the team had made the call before the day was done that de Vries would be axed.
Ricciardo returned for subsequent grands prix in Hungary and Belgium before breaking his hand in the Netherlands during practice.
He's since been out of the seat – and despite strong showings from Liam Lawson, Ricciardo has been re-signed for 2024.
"The first part of this year I learnt a lot about myself and what I want and how I want to go about my career moving forward," said Ricciardo.
"It really reignited me and gave me that second wind that I was hoping for but I wasn't forcing.
"So now that I've got that and have something confirmed for next year, I'm a very, very hungry young man again.
"I'm very excited to be with a contract on the grid for next year."
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It feels like a lifetime ago that Ricciardo last won a grand prix with McLaren, and plenty has happened since then.
Few could have predicted such a turnaround for the 34-year-old, who has a real chance of returning to Red Bull in 2025 – or sooner.
Although Ricciardo's decision to leave Red Bull for Renault in 2018 was perhaps the worst decision of his career, he has no regrets.
"I think it's probably at that age now as well where I don't really look back on anything with regret," he said.
"I think they're not necessarily losses, they're lessons learnt.
"Of course, I would love to have won more in my career, but then maybe winning would have got boring and maybe I would have not appreciated it as much or whatever.
"I wouldn't change it. As long as I can continue to grow and become better from experience, then I'm pretty content."
It's hoped Ricciardo will be fit for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on October 23.
There is a chance he could return for the Qatar Grand Prix on October 9, pending a simulator run in the lead-up to that event.
If he is unavailable, then Lawson will continue in his place.
"That's kind of my first test really to see where I'm at and simply make a call from there," said Ricciardo.
"I definitely want to be out there in… call it the next few weeks, that's the plan. Probably early next week I should know."
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