I've been bored – Ricciardo itching for start of F1 season

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London, February 20: Daniel Ricciardo admitted he was getting "bored" during the Formula One off-season and the Red Bull driver is ready for a return to action.

The team launched their new RB14 car for the 2018 season, which begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 25.

Ricciardo, who enjoyed nine podium finishes – including winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – in 2017, is excited to be back.

"It was nice to be back in the car and always when you start, it's been such a long off-season, I think too long," he said.

"It's nice to shake out the cobwebs again. I don't know, the last week I've been bored so it's nice to get in the car and just start to get the ball rolling."

Ricciardo said there were no surprises from the new car – a good sign with the start of the season just over a month away.

"The car felt familiar, I think, which is a good thing," he said.

"It didn't do anything which scared me I guess, or it didn't do anything weird, which I was not expecting.

"In these conditions we've got filming tyres on it, it's cold, it's wet, it's not very representative but the good thing is, in pretty poor conditions, it felt OK."