Daniel Ricciardo has surgery on broken hand as Italian Grand Prix decision made

27 August 2023 , 17:40

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Daniel Ricciardo has surgery on broken hand as Italian Grand Prix decision made

Daniel Ricciardo will miss next weekend's Italian Grand Prix after undergoing surgery on his left hand.

The Aussie broke his metacarpal in a crash during the second practice session of the day on Friday. After Oscar Piastri span his car, Ricciardo had the choice of crashing into either the McLaren or the wall – opting for the latter in a split-second decision.

He paid the price, breaking that bone in his hand when his steering wheel smashed into it. He flew to Barcelona on Saturday to consult a top surgeon Dr Xavier Mir, who is regularly used by motorsport stars. And, on Sunday, the 34-year-old went under the knife.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner confirmed the surgery as he spoke to reporters, including Mirror Sport, after the Dutch Grand Prix. "He had an operation earlier today. He's had several screws and a plate fitted to his metacarpal," he said.

"It went well, it was successful. The bone was broken in multiple places but it was a fairly straightforward procedure. So now it's all about recovery. We'll see. For a normal being, that would be a couple of months. For a Grand Prix driver it's probably much shorter."

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Asked if he could confirm how long Ricciardo's absence is expected to be, Horner was reluctant to speculate. But he did rule the Aussie out of next weekend's trip to Monza, adding: "We need to see how that recovery process goes, but certainly not Italy."

Ricciardo wrote on social media: "Had surgery this morning, got my first bit of metal work so that's pretty cool. Big thanks to everyone who reached out and kept my spirits up. This ain't a setback, just all part of the comeback."

Daniel Ricciardo had surgery on his broken hand (danielricciardo/instagram)

Piastri thanked Ricciardo for his quick-thinking which meant he escaped the incident unharmed. He said: "I hope he has a speedy recovery. It's never nice to see somebody get hurt. I know he had the choice of hitting me or the wall, so I'm thankful he chose the wall. But, yeah, I just hope he recovers quickly, and we see him back on the grid.

"Asked about his own mishap at that corner, the McLaren driver added: "The way you have to attack the banking, it's not the smoothest transition in the world. With a kind of strange behaviour on the tyres and the car, it sort of reacts a little bit differently sometimes to what you would normally expect.

"And obviously the wall is a metre to the right so if you get it wrong – as I proved – it ends badly. So it's a tricky corner – definitely. You've kind of got to hope the grip is there when you get into the banking. I think I was maybe a bit ambitious, but it's definitely a tricky one."

Daniel Moxon