A "super-excited" Lewis Hamilton said his Friday F1 return at the Abu Dhabi GP felt like "the first day back at school" as he resumed duties in his Mercedes, while also praising the "amazing job" George Russell did in his absence.
After missing last weekend's race in Bahrain due to coronavirus, Hamilton was back in his Mercedes car for the start of F1's season-ending Grand Prix - with the world champion finishing fifth in first practice and second in the evening session, just 0.2seconds behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
"I was very, very happy and grateful this morning just to be back here and obviously be able to try and finish this season strong," said Hamilton, who wrapped up his seventh title last month in Turkey.
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"Super excited, it felt like the first day back at school."
Forced to isolate in his hotel in Bahrain after testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday, November 30, Hamilton only resumed training earlier this week before flying to Abu Dhabi on Thursday after returning a negative result.
The Englishman admitted: "It definitely took me a minute to get back used to it for the first session, and in the second one I think I was still getting my bearings.
"But not too bad. I think we got through most of the stuff we missed out on [due to a brake issue] at the start of the day."
Hamilton experienced mild Covid-19 symptoms, and when asked by F1 about his condition he replied: "It's not something I really want to go into deeply about. It was an experience, for sure."
F1's multiple record-holder will be aiming to move up the timesheets in final practice on Saturday, which starts at 10am on Sky Sports F1, before the last qualifying session at 1pm.
Hamilton on Russell's 'amazing job' and why he has 'nothing to prove'
Hamilton missed his first-ever F1 race at the Sakhir GP after a record run of 265 consecutive starts, with Russell - a Mercedes junior - stepping up from Williams to replace him.
Russell not only impressed in Hamilton's absence, he so nearly won a remarkable race - only to be denied twice, by a Mercedes pit-stop error and then a tyre puncture.
He has returned to his Williams team for this weekend's race.
"I think George did an amazing job, I think everybody knows that," said Hamilton, before adding on his week: "It was definitely odd - in my 27 years of racing I've never missed a race.
"One day I'll write a book about it but as I said, just grateful to be back."
But Hamilton insists he has "nothing to prove" at this weekend's Abu Dhabi GP.
"I just wanted to come here this weekend and enjoy what I do," he explained. "It's been a huge amount of work from everyone back at the factories, and it's been a privilege to race with them this year.
"We don't have anything to prove this weekend, I don't feel like I have anything to prove, I'm just here to have some fun."