Local Formula One hope Daniel Ricciardo found his happy place in practice for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.
It's just unfortunate for him it's situated well behind the sport's untouchable leader Lewis Hamilton.
The West Australian ran third in the weekend's opening practice session, 0.67 seconds behind Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
He slipped to fifth in the second practice, more than a second behind Hamilton, after his car failed to take to new settings from his garage.
Regardless of his timings, Ricciardo is having a ball.
"If I'm brutally honest it felt awesome to be out there. During the first run, I was just 'ahhhh this is my happy place'," he said.
"It's a circuit I enjoy ... it's a fun layout. It felt good. I think we can have a good weekend from here."
On the eve of the season, Ricciardo sees Hamilton, as do most Formula One observers, on a different plane to the rest of the field.
But the 27-year-old said starting the Grand Prix from the front row wasn't out of the question.
"Mercedes sure is quick but it's more Lewis than Valtteri," he said.
"So pole would be a stretch.
"Valtteri looks like he's in the group with Ferrari ... with the right lap we can be in that battle as well.
"This morning was promising and we tried a few things this afternoon. It's fair to say they didn't work as much as we would have liked.
"We'll go back and understand what we can do better for tomorrow."
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