And Ricciardo for one thought that the interest in him would have died down after the fanfare he received at Hungary.
I thought you would have forgotten about me
"I thought today would be a lot smaller,” he said about the gathered press at his driver press conference. "I thought that you would have forgotten about me already!"
"I definitely made a point to enjoy it all," he said about his F1 return. "The media day was a lot. I felt like I had won the world championship there was so much interest.
"You have to soak it all up and enjoy it. The weekend as a whole went well. Monday I was knackered, then I took it very easy and reflected."
Hungary was more enjoyable than expected
"I was happy with my performance and the way I was racing again," he added. "The weekend as chaotic as it felt, it was all under control. It was busy, but not too much.
"It was a more enjoyable experience than I've been in many times in the last year or so. I joked that I qualified 13th and finished 13th, but I was much happier than you would think.
"We are very result-driven and normally our joy is dictated by whether we are on the podium, but to be happy with not even points is the way I want to go racing now.
"Obviously I'm still very results-driven, but I feel like I did everything I should have done (in Hungary)."