How Daniel Ricciardo plans to return from broken hand in timeframe ‘any normal human being’ couldn’t manage after crash with fellow Aussie Oscar Piastri
Daniel Ricciardo broke his wrist in a big crash at Zandvoort The Australian lost control of his car and hit the barrier in Friday’s practice The 34-year-old faces a long lay-off to recover from injury
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed Daniel Ricciardo to be back on the grid in less than a month after being ruled out of the Dutch Grand Prix with a broken wrist.
The Australian pranged his AlphaTauri at the steeply banked Turn Three in practice at Zandvoort on Friday and would have been fine other than for not releasing his grip from the steering wheel on impact with the wall.
His smash appeared to come about after he was distracted by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, his countryman who had just hit the wall at the same point of the Zandvoort track.
The 34-year-old left was taken to a local hospital, with his left arm in a sling and an X-ray revealed a fractured metacarpal in his left hand.
It’s an ill-timed injury for Ricciardo, who returned to the grid after six months out of the sport when he replaced Nyck De Vries at AlphaTauri in July.
Christian Horner has backed Daniel Ricciardo to recover swiftly from a broken wrist
The 34-year-old said he wanted to be back racing as soon as possible this season
The former Red Bull star finished 13th on his return at the Hungarian Grand Prix and then 16th the following race in Belgium.
But Horner suggested the eight-time Grand Prix winner could be back in the cockpit in time for the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17.
‘These guys, you see it in MotoGP, they bounce back pretty quick,’ the Red Bull boss said on Sky Sports.
‘He’s headed off today to Barcelona. They may even have a little operation on him tomorrow to just tidy up where that break is. It’s quite a clean break.
‘Any normal human being would probably be 10-12 weeks, but we know these guys aren’t normal.
‘It will all be about the recovery process, how long will that take?
‘Is it going to be three weeks? A month? Is it six weeks? Nobody really knows.
‘I am sure that at the back of his mind he has got Singapore as a target, but then again Singapore is probably one of the toughest circuits on the calendar.
The Australian has been ruled out of the Dutch Grand Prix following a crash on Friday
Ricciardo broke a bone in his wrist after hitting the barriers in a seemingly innocuous crash
Ricciardo has been replaced by New Zealander Liam Lawson for the Dutch Grand Prix and the 21-year-old will in all likelihood retain his spot for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza next week.
A return in Singapore would give Ricciardo a three-week recovery period. The Australian vowed to be back on the grid as quickly as possible, but conceded he would only do so if fully recovered from the injury.
‘It’s really unfortunate and frustrating, but I’ll try to recover as quickly as I can,’he said,
‘Obviously, I’d love to get back soon, but I also want to ensure we do things the right way, so I come back strong and competitive.’