Nico Hulkenberg admitted he had experienced a "crazy and wild" 24 hours having answered Racing Point's SOS to make his Formula One return.
The 32-year-old had been left without a seat for the 2020 F1 season after leaving Renault, but he was Racing Point's preferred choice when they needed a replacement for Sergio Perez at this weekend's British Grand Prix.
Perez was ruled out of the race at Silverstone having contracted coronavirus, so Hulkenberg, who has raced in 177 grands prix but never appeared on a podium, flew in and cancelled plans in Germany where he was due to appear as a pundit and test a sportscar.
Hulkenberg had some familiarity with the Racing Point team having raced for previous incarnation Force India in 2012 and between 2014 and 2016, and he finished ninth in FP1 and seventh in FP2 at Silverstone on Friday.
"The last 24 hours have been a bit special, crazy and wild," he said, according to F1's official website.
"[At] 4:30pm yesterday afternoon I got the call, took the plane here, seat fitted until 2:00am, 8:00am this morning into the simulator for an hour, bit of prep work – so it was a short night, but all worthwhile.
Uncomfortably numb #BritishGP @HulkHulkenberg pic.twitter.com/QHu6cg4v2v
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 31, 2020
"We didn't have heaps of time because I had to be tested [for coronavirus] as well but the real deal, obviously today, we've got the programme in, we got a couple of laps or many laps, which I feel. I've been really thrown into the cold water here."
Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer revealed Hulkenberg's day had been even more hectic as he had only just arrived in Germany having flown in from Majorca, where he was spending lockdown, when the phone call came.
"He had just landed in Germany, I think he was flying there to do a sportscar test or something," Szafnauer said in quotes published on ESPN.
"He said, 'Yeah, I just landed here, I'm going to do a test'. 'Well maybe you should jump in an F1 car', so he said, 'Yeah, absolutely'.
"I think he spent an hour on the ground in Cologne to grab his boots and a helmet then he flew into Birmingham, 7, 7:30pm last night."
Hulkenberg's new team-mate Lance Stroll had an even better day at Silverstone on Friday as he topped the FP2 standings.