HOW do you even begin to try and put the smile back on Daniel Ricciardo’s face after the disaster that was the Monaco Grand Prix?

We’ve found the answer: let him go for a spin in the car that delivered Australia’s last Formula 1 world championship victory.

Fresh from his rollercoaster weekend in the Principality, Ricciardo took a short trip to the nearby Paul Ricard circuit where a host of collection of classic racecars were being given a workout.

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This wasn’t just any old collection, though. The cars belonged to United Autosports, whose owner, marketing guru and racing enthusiast Zak Brown, has often been named as a potential successor to Bernie Ecclestone as the boss of F1’s commercial dealings.

Among the cars at the French circuit was a car very dear to the hearts of Australian motorsport lovers.

This wasn’t just any old Williams; this is one of the cars used by none other than Alan Jones to win the 1980 world championship.

Jones behind the wheel of FW07B/7 at Monaco in 1980. Source: Supplied

This chassis, FW07B/7, only ever raced in Jones’ hands during the 1980 season, taking part in a total of eight races.

Six of them counted for the world championship, Jones winning the British and French Grand Prix — the latter held at Paul Ricard — and taking pole the Belgian Grand Prix. Incidentally, he also challenged for the lead at Monaco until a broken differential put him out of the race.

36 years after Jones won the French GP at Paul Ricard in the car, Ricciardo took it around the same circuit. Photo: LAT Photographic/Williams F1 Source: Supplied

Jones also used the machine to cap his championship season with a victory on home soil, winning the 1980 Australian Grand Prix at Calder Park before the event joined the F1 calendar.

Jones heading Alfa Romeo’s Bruno Giacomelli on his way to victory. Source: Supplied

“Don’t laugh at me, alright!” he joked to crew members, as Brown talked him through the intricacies of a machine equipped with none of the electronics aids Ricciardo is more accustomed to.

New F1 meets old F1! @danielricciardo gets familiar with Alan Jones' 1980 F1 championship winning FW07 & @ZBrownCEO pic.twitter.com/E2B665XsNa — United Autosports (@UnitedAutosport) May 31, 2016

Jones’s Williams dates from the sport’s ground-effect era: it’s equipped with a dashboard with mechanical gauges, an h-pattern gearbox, a clutch pedal in the footwell, and not a thread of carbon fibre to be seen.

Donning his special Monaco helmet but not his usual Red Bull fire suit, we’re not sure how many laps he got to turn around the track — but suffice to say the experience was enough put that broad smile back on his face.

“It was cool!” he enthused to team members.

“The brakes are actually really good. If my downshifts were better I could brake later; I was already braking quite late into 1, and the car stops really well. I was impressed.

“Man, thank you, that was super,” before adding that, “it sounds nice!”

Ricciardo wasn’t the only F1 star on hand, with retired legends David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen turning laps in a variety of machinery, including a Porsche 935, Porsche 962 and Ford Mustang from the American IMSA sports car series.

.@ZBrownCEO has already been out in the Mustang, preparing for the Rolex Monterey Reunion in August pic.twitter.com/9j2s0XgJQs — United Autosports (@UnitedAutosport) May 31, 2016