He is replacing Nyck de Vries at the Red Bull Alpha Tauri team after the driver was fired last week.
He also said that after 7 months out of commission that he is = “hungry and ready to go - pretty pumped”.
He also added: “I feel like I’ve been myself again.”
Last season, his contract with McLaren was cut early as he struggled with teammate Lando Norris. Since early last year, he has been the reserve driver at Red Bull.
“I just got in it and I drove,” Ricciardo said. “I didn’t really think about anything. I just drove and had fun. The times were good and I was competitive.”
“There’s going to be a lot to learn but I’m not going to solve everything this weekend so it’s really just about focusing on using things I do well.”
“Everything I felt driving the car last week is how I want to go racing again. I just want to be in the moment, enjoying it, not thinking too far ahead.”
He also said that he was targeting a full return to Red Bull.
“I knew everything that happened the last few years, and taking some time off, it would be very hard to go back in at the top,” Ricciardo said.
“Of course, that was my wish but I think also you need to be realistic at some point and say: ‘OK, if I want to get back to, say, a Red Bull seat, then it’s going to take a bit of a process and a path’. This for me is the best path at the moment.”