Sports International Hungarian Grand Prix: Daniel Ricciardo says he has ‘fallen in love’ with F1 again

Daniel Ricciardo says he has “fallen in love” with Formula 1 again as he prepares to return to the grid at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Australian, 34, replaces Nyck de Vries at Red Bull’s Alpha Tauri team after the Dutchman was fired last week.

Marvelous Nakamba: Luton sign midfielder from Aston Villa

Luton Town have signed midfielder Marvelous Nakamba from Aston Villa on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

The 29-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan with the Hatters and made 20 appearances.

The Zimbabwe international scored the third penalty in the shootout victory over Coventry in the Championship play-off final.

“I’m very excited to be back home at Luton to continue the journey,” Nakamba said.

“When I joined on loan, I felt love from everyone - the manager, the board, the staff, the players and the fans.

“I was welcomed as part of the family and that pushed me to give everything for this club and help achieve the goal we had last season, which we did.”

Nakamba signed for Aston Villa from Bruges in 2019 for £11m and made a total of 68 appearances for the club, but has not featured for Villa since the final game of the 2021-22 season.

Luton are preparing for their first campaign in the top flight in 31 years.

The club’s manager Rob Edwards said: “We - the supporters, the board, the staff and the players - all fell in love with Marv for what he gave us. (BBC)

Ricciardo, dropped by McLaren last year, said he was refreshed after seven months out and is “hungry and ready to go - pretty pumped”.

He added: “I feel like I’ve been myself again.”

Ricciardo’s McLaren contract was severed a year early last season after two years of struggling to get on terms with team-mate Lando Norris.

He has been Red Bull’s reserve driver since the start of the year and earned his place back at the team where he drove his first full season in 2012 with a test at Silverstone last week in which he impressed.

“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.”

Ricciardo confirmed team principal Christian Horner’s claim earlier this week that he was targeting a return to Red Bull in the future. He left the team at the end of 2018 feeling they had become too preoccupied with Max Verstappen and went first to Renault and then to McLaren.

Although Alpha Tauri are struggling towards the back of the grid this year, he sees a return as a springboard to greater things.

“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.”

He said he had driven the Alpha Tauri car on the simulator last week and was looking forward to taking it out on track at the Hungaroring for the first time in practice on Friday.

“I know the car will have limitations and I’m sure it’s not going to feel as good as the car I drove a week ago. But I’ll just work with that.

“I drove it on the sim last week, and it seemed OK. I think it was a solid day on the sim.

“It will be a car I have to work at but I don’t see the pessimistic point of view, it’s just an opportunity for me.”

He said he believed his struggles at McLaren were centred on him “just lacking that confidence of just going out there and driving. Other thoughts creep into your mind.”

He said being back at Red Bull, for whom he won seven races from 2014-18, had allowed him to refresh his mind.

“I’ve enjoyed this year in general,” Ricciardo said. “It has been a lot of fun being back in the Red Bull family and it gave me some time away that was definitely needed.

Wolves have re-signed Republic of Ireland full-back Matt Doherty on a three-year contract.

Doherty left Wolves for Tottenham in 2020 but struggled to settle under a succession of managers and moved to Atletico Madrid in January.

The 31-year-old featured just twice for Atletico and returns to Molineux as a free agent.

“He’s the one the manager really wanted when he knew he was available,” said sporting director Matt Hobbs.

“After Spurs and Atletico Madrid, he’s hungry to prove himself again, and will add strength in depth to the full-back area, providing competition and making us better in those positions.

“He knows the club and what it means to play here - he’s been successful at Wolves before and knows what the fans want.”

Doherty played 302 times for Wolves during his first stint between 2010 and 2020, scoring 28 goals.

The Republic of Ireland international featured in every Premier League game of Wolves’ 201819 campaign and helped Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to back-to-back seventhplace finishes after they sealed promotion from the Championship.