Red Bull name iconic Ricciardo injury stand-in as Vettel to drive

01 September 2023 , 12:09

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Red Bull name iconic Ricciardo injury stand-in as Vettel to drive

Red Bull fans have learnt that David Coulthard will line-up alongside Sebastian Vettel in one of the famous Formula One cars next month following the hand injury sustained by Daniel Ricciardo.

After being released from his contract early by McLaren last summer, the Australian moved to Christian Horner's team as a back-up driver to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. But following this season's British Grand Prix, Ricciardo was given a seat at Red Bull's sister team AlphaTauri, after Nyck de Vries was ruthlessly axed.

That switch turned sour at last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix though. During the second free practice, Ricciardo broke a metacarpal in his hand and was ruled out for the remainder of the weekend. He duly underwent surgery on Sunday, and faces time away from the F1 track again.

And the injury also ruled him out on the highly anticipated Red Bull Formula Nurburgring event taking place on September 9. Young drivers and big-name veterans will take part in a series of demo runs at the famous venue in Germany, with some famous team cars on show.

Ricciardo was due to drive the RB8 car which was used by the team in 2012, and was set to team up with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. The home driver will get back behind the wheel of the RB7 vehicle he drove to one of his title wins back in 2011.

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And the official Nurburgring X-account has now confirmed that Coulthard will partner Vettel. A statement said: "Unfortunately, Daniel Ricciardo can not participate in the Red Bull Formula Nurburgring due to his injury - for him the 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard takes over at short notice!"

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Despite disappointment at the withdrawal of the 'Honey Badger', the Scot will prove a popular replacement. The 52-year-old joined Red Bull in 2005, and finished his career there after retiring in 2008.

One star who will be absent though is current world champion Verstappen, who is steaming towards a third consecutive F1 drivers' title this year. He's previously revealed that his desire to take part was quashed by Red Bull bosses.

"I wanted to do it, but I was not allowed by Helmut (Marko)," he admitted. "He knew that I would try and go to the limits. I would have loved to do it. I didn't want to start unnecessary issues. I heard this thing was coming up, and Helmut was sitting at the table when it came up, and he said, 'No, no, no, you're not doing that!'"

Fraser Watson