Australian Oscar Piastri insists he will draw confidence from the Hungarian Grand Prix despite his wait for a maiden Formula One podium continuing.
The McLaren rookie finished fifth in Budapest, backing up his fourth at the British Grand Prix two weeks ago.
A superb start on Sunday rocketed Piastri up to second from fourth on the grid, but he struggled with tyre wear the longer the race in Hungary went on.
"The big takeaway for me was working on tyre management. I struggled quite a lot in the second and third stint following some floor damage," Piastri said.
"The conditions this weekend have been a good test for us.
"To still be up there is a big confidence boost and we can look to take that momentum to Spa next week.”
McLaren boss Zak Brown praised the 22-year-old as Piastri inches closer to the first podium of his career.
"He's very calm, he's very mature for his age and being a rookie, and he's a student," Brown told Sky Sports UK.
"When you watch him over the weekend, he looks at the data, he understands, he asks questions, he's calm, then he goes out and applies it the next run."
Meanwhile, Australian veteran Daniel Ricciardo was content with his first F1 drive since November after returning to the grid with AlphaTauri.
After leaving McLaren at the end of last season, Ricciardo was signed as a reserve driver for Red Bull.
The 34-year-old finished 13th in Hungary, two spots ahead of AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
“The whole weekend has been good and to come back, really feel all the things I’ve missed in the last 12 months, I can’t ask for more on the first weekend, and it gives me confidence," Ricciardo said.
"I’ll learn from the mistakes I made to get better and better, and I made little mental notes, which I will share with the team.
"Overall though, there are a lot of things to be happy about.”
