Singapore return Ricciardo's best-case scenario: Horner
Monday, 28 August 2023
Daniel Ricciardo is likely to be sidelined for at least two races following his Friday practice shunt at the Dutch Grand Prix when he tried to avoid the crashed McLaren of compatriot Oscar Piastri.
Daniel Ricciardo could miss several more races as he recovers from surgery on Sunday for his broken left hand after a crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old missed the first Grand Prix in his 12-year, 234-race career with injury at Zandvoort, the Scuderia AlphaTauri hitting the wall in FP2 when avoiding running into compatriot Oscar Piastri's McLaren.
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The incident occurred early in Friday's second practice session at Zandvoort's steeply banked Turn 3, when Piastri lost control of his McLaren and ploughed into the TecPro barrier, the nose of the car buried in the fence and the rear of the MCL60 on the racing line.
Ricciardo was the first car behind Piastri to encounter the prone McLaren, and chose to hit the fence rather than the car parked broadside across the track, breaking a metacarpal in his left hand when he was unable to remove his hands from the steering wheel of his car before the contact with the wall violently twisted the steering wheel from his grasp.
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After being treated at a local hospital on Friday, Ricciardo flew to Barcelona on Saturday for treatment by Dr Xavier Mir, the renowned motorsport specialist doctor who operates out of the Spanish city's Hospital Universitari Dexeus.
Dr Mir is more known for his work with MotoGP riders, but operated on Lance Stroll earlier this year when the Canadian broke both wrists in a cycling accident before the season-opening Grand Prix in Bahrain, the Aston Martin driver defying the pain barrier to finish sixth.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said Ricciardo, on loan to AlphaTauri after the sacking of Nyck De Vries before the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, will definitely miss next weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, but will have the following race in Singapore in mind for a return after his surgery on Sunday.
"At the back of his mind he's probably got Singapore as a target, but then again Singapore is probably one of the toughest circuits on the calendar," Horner said.
The Dutch Grand Prix was the first race in a busy run of four Grands Prix in five weekends to open the second half of the season after the northern hemisphere summer break. Zandvoort came as part of a double-header with Monza, while after a week's break, Singapore and Japan form another double-header, the Japanese round held at the daunting, high-speed Suzuka Circuit where maximum driver fitness is a must.
After the accident, Ricciardo admitted he was in a no-win situation when he encountered Piastri's McLaren blocking the track.
"It was either hit him or the wall," Ricciardo explained with his left arm in a sling after undergoing an x-ray.
"I didn't have enough time to take my hands off the steering wheel, so the wheel came and hit my hand. It's really unfortunate and frustrating, but I'll try to recover as quickly as I can.
"Obviously I'd love to get back soon, but I also want to ensure we do things the right way so I come back competitive."
New Zealander Liam Lawson deputised for Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, the first Kiwi to drive in the sport since Brendon Hartley in 2018 and 10th New Zealander to start a Grand Prix finishing 13th on his debut at Zandvoort.
