Red Bull boss Christian Horner refused to comment on whether Daniel Ricciardo will return to racing after the AlphaTauri driver underwent surgery in Spain on Sunday for a fractured left hand, but the Australian driver says he is “certain” he will not be in the car at Monza this weekend; Horner confirms Ricciardo out for Italian GP.

Daniel Ricciardo – who made his return to Formula 1 as a regular this season with AlphaTauri from the Hungarian Grand Prix – hit the tyre barriers at Turn 3 (Banking) of the Dutch GP last Friday following a driver error.

The Australian did not have time to remove his hands from the steering wheel before the impact and consequently injured his left arm and left hand.

 

Ricciardo injured

An X-ray at the local hospital confirmed that he had suffered a fracture to the metacarpal bone of his left hand, and the injury meant that he was unable to continue driving for the rest of the weekend, so he was replaced by the team’s reserve driver, Liam Lawson, for the remainder of the weekend at Zandvoort.

Determined to get back into the cockpit of his single-seater as soon as possible, and with only nine races left this season, Daniel Ricciardo wasted no time in flying to Spain on Saturday, where he underwent surgery on Sunday.

The operation involved fitting a metal plate and a few screws to fix the bone in Daniel Ricciardo’s left hand, and the operation went perfectly, as the driver himself confirmed on his social networks on Sunday evening.

 

 

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Horner: Bad news for Danny

Daniel Ricciardo must now begin a period of re-education which could be more or less long, and his participation in the next Grand Prix, scheduled for Monza this weekend, seems highly unlikely, if not impossible, if Christian Horner is to be believed.

“He was operated on earlier today and had several screws and a plate put on his metacarpal,” said Horner on Sunday evening in Zandvoort.

“It went well, it was a success. It was a simple operation, so now it’s a matter of him recovering and we’ll see what happens next.”

“For a normal human being, it takes a few months. But for a Grand Prix driver, it’s often much shorter.”

 

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Ricciardo gives news after surgery

The Australian, who just underwent an operation on Sunday, gave his news on his social networks. As usual, the AlphaTauri driver is all smiles:

“Hi everyone. I had my operation this morning, the first time I’ve had a piece of metal (in my hand), so it’s pretty cool. I’d like to thank everyone who contacted me and kept my spirits up. It’s not a setback, it’s part of the comeback”.

A determined Daniel Ricciardo, who made his return to Formula 1 just two Grand Prix ago remains bullish.

 

 

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Ricciardo Replaced

Asked if he thought that the timeframe could be even shorter than expected and that Ricciardo could return as early as next weekend at Monza, Horner replied: “Certainly not in Italy”.

All the indications are that Liam Lawson will be in the AlphaTauri this weekend at the Italian Grand Prix, with the New Zealander – who crossed the line in thirteenth place at Zandvoort on Sunday – taking part in his second F1 race, again replacing Daniel Ricciardo.

Indeed AlphaTauri confirms today that: “We hope to see him [Ricciardo] back on track soon, but until he is fully recovered we can confirm that Liam [Lawson], who did an excellent job in difficult circumstances at Zandvoort, will continue to drive alongside Yuki [Tsunoda] from our home race this weekend at Monza.”

 

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Drivers jockey for position before the heavens open ☔️😵

What a race start we had in Zandvoort! 🍿#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RdIZsx3BkK

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2023