Australia's Ricciardo rediscovers mojo in Formula One

Daniel Ricciardo has rediscovered his mojo and is Formula One race ready, his new boss says.

After losing his F1 driver's seat in a McLaren, the Australian is a reserve driver for pacesetters Red Bull this season.

Ricciardo's influence on Red Bull, where he drove between 2014-18, is being lauded by team principal Christian Horner.

"Daniel is just a positive energy to have around and it's great to see him getting his mojo back," Horner said on Friday.

"His popularity in Formula One, even though he's not driving, he's still probably the most popular driver here.

"For us, it's just positive to have him in the team, contributing to the team, to the drivers, to the engineering team.

"It's a different experience. It must be very tough for him not being a race driver this weekend but he's thrown himself and embracing this new role."

Horner said he would have no hesitation in Ricciardo replacing Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez should an emergency arise.

"He's about 10 minutes away from being ready," he said.

"He is in good shape, he has kept himself fit and well ... he's training hard and he's ready to go given a chance.

"He likes the feel of the car in the virtual world, which seems to correlate well with what we're seeing in the actual world.

"And I think he is desperate to get a run in the car at some point to validate that."

Ricciardo, who raced for McLaren in 2021-22 before being replaced by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri, hopes to return to the starting grid next year.

And McLaren team principal Zak Brown said despite splitting with the 33-year-old, he remained a much-loved figure.

"We're all big Daniel fans ... he lights up a room when he walks in and smiles," he said.

But Brown was uncertain just why the union between Ricciardo and McLaren failed to fire.

"I don't think we know, he knows, exactly why he didn't click," Brown said.

"Sometimes drivers just need to recharge their batteries.

"Hopefully Daniel will get an opportunity to go try and win his ninth grand prix and many more, because I think we'd all love to see him back on the grid on a regular basis."