Ricciardo to miss more F1 races in gloomy update after surgery on broken hand
Daniel Ricciardo will miss the Singapore Grand Prix and is a serious doubt for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Ricciardo broke his hand in an accident in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on August 25 and has been replaced by Liam Lawson for the past two races. The AlphaTauri driver underwent surgery in Barcelona after breaking his metacarpal when hitting the wall while avoiding Oscar Piastri.
He is now undergoing rehabilitation in the hope of returning to action as soon as possible. But speaking after the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sounded a cautious note, with the Singapore Grand Prix on September 15 and Japanese Grand Prix on September 22 on the horizon.
“Certainly Singapore, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be ready for then, and I think it would be optimistic for Japan,” he said.
“But his recovery is going well, he’s got mobility of the hand, and he’s into rehabilitation now. But we’ve seen with motorcyclists rushing comebacks, they can sometimes do more damage. We just want to make sure he’s fully fit before he gets back in the car.”
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He added: "I should think he's pretty keen to be in the car in Suzuka. But we just take it on a day-by-day basis and see how the recovery and nature takes its cause."
Ricciardo has remained positive, writing an upbeat message when posting a photo of himself in a hospital bed following the operation. “Had surgery this morning, got my first bit of metalwork so that’s cool,” he said on Instagram. “Big thanks to everyone who reached out and kept my spirits up. This ain’t a setback, just all part of the comeback.”
Liam Lawson will continue racing for Alpha Tauri (Andrea Diodato/Getty Images)The 34-year-old Australian has also remained in contact with his team to provide support for Lawson. The New Zealander finished 13th on his debut in the Netherlands after stepping in at short notice and improved to come 11th at Monza.
"Yuki [ Tsunoda ] has been very supportive which is obviously great as a team-mate. Before the race last week, Daniel as well offered all the advice he could give," Lawson said.
"Both really supportive guys, and same with the team. They’ve been extremely helpful with trying to get me up to speed as quickly as possible."
The 21-year-old has really appreciated the help from his team-mates as he tries to navigate the world of F1. "It's so complex to drive a Formula 1 car that that's really the challenge,” he said. “It's not so much just driving, but it's basically being able to operate everything and being comfortable with everything behind the wheel.
"That's really the main thing that we've focused on during the week and trying to basically familiarise myself with how to operate the car, so that in a racing situation especially, I can be comfortable."
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