PADDOCK INSIDER: Ricciardo and Norris – the former team mates with all eyes on them in Hungary

It would be wrong to say a familiar figure was back in the paddock on Thursday in Hungary. Daniel Ricciardo has peppered the 2023 season with appearances as Red Bull’s third driver, smiling for the cameras on the team’s pit wall publicly – and impressing them with his dedicated simulator work and input behind closed doors.

Now, though, Ricciardo is back as a front-line driver, and as he strode and scooted through the Hungaroring paddock in AlphaTauri overalls and fireproof underwear on Thursday, that famous ‘Danny Ric smile’s’ wattage was turned up just a little bit brighter than we’ve seen recently. “Race week,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Haven’t said that in a while. Cool.”