Daniel Ricciardo says an extended winter break forced by the COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed his desire in Formula 1 an♚d “definitely ♚reminded me how much I miss it”.

After the opening 10 races of the 2020 season were called off because of coronavirus, the heavily delayed campaign will finally 🐠begin next month with back-to-back races in Austria on July 5 and July 12, kicking off a run of eight European-based events in 10 weeks.

By the time the season resumes, drivers will have gone seven months since they l�๊�ast raced competitively at the 2019 season-finale in Abu Dhabi in December.

Ricciardo returned to the track for he first time since B🔯arcelona pre-season testing concluded at the end of February last week as he conducted a day’s running in a 2018-spec Renault at the Red Bull Ring as the French manufacturer stepped up its preparations for the 2020 season opener.

"The biggest thing I took from the time out of the seat and the time away from the racing was how muc☂h I missed it, how much I love it, and how much I want to continue to do it," Ricciardo told the Sky F1 Show.

"There are timꦫes when it does get you down and you're like 'ah, do I want to do this for another five years or am I going to be do🍃ne in a year or so?' But not having it definitely reminded me how much I miss it.

"So, it certainly fu🌜elled me to want to stay and be successful in the sport for many years to come.”

Ricciardo is heading into final se♒ason with Renault before he makes the switch to McLaren for 2021 to replace the Ferrari-bound Carlos 🀅Sainz, who in turn is taking the seat vacated by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

The 30-year-old Australian 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:recently explained𒁃 his reasoning behind the move after just two years at 🗹Renault but admitted the call was not absolutely “clear cutಞ”.

"Obviously these things take time, so it didn't happen over the course of a week🍒 or two weeks,” he explained.

"The reality 🦂is it's still not like a clear-cut decision𒀰, I guess. Yes, McLaren certainly stood out last year - no mistake. They were the team on the grid who made the biggest progress, so there's the appeal with that.

"But in s🎃aying that I didn't expect us at Renault to fight for wins or podiums last year. I know that we didn't achieve what we wanted but there was still room to grow and to do that. But I guess just seeing what McLaren had done, that was probably a little bit more to convince me.

"There are arℱguments for and againsಞt. Time will tell if the one I've made is the right one."