From Laughter to Pain: Ricciardo's Injury Shifts F1 Spotlight to Lawson
Aug.26 - Daniel Ricciardo may need to undergo surgery for a broken bone in his left hand.
The Australian, who was only a few races into his return to Formula 1 and linked with a sensational promotion back to Red Bull Racing in 2024, crashed during practice at Zandvoort.
"There was little he could do about it - he could no longer brake and he could no longer avoid Piastri," said AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost.
"He was laughing, but not much," the Austrian smiled. "He's in a lot of pain because it's a serious injury.
"I hope he can sleep tonight and he will probably see another doctor tomorrow. They will decide how to proceed."
Ricciardo, 33, had a cast put on in a nearby hospital and will be replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson for the rest of the Dutch F1 GP weekend - who was already on-site.
It is not clear how long Australian Ricciardo will be out of action.
"We'll see how it goes next week in Monza," Tost told Viaplay. "Maybe he needs surgery. The doctors will decide on that in the coming days.
"The recovery for a normal person is six weeks, but he is an F1 driver and hopefully it will go a bit faster for him. We'd like him back in the car, but it's done now."
New Zealander Lawson, 21, is a regular in Japan's Super Formula series this year and Tost said he is being put under no pressure.
"You always have to be prepared - that's part of it," Tost said. "Liam drove the Abu Dhabi test for us last year and he's pretty fast.
"It won't be easy, because the field is very competitive. We are preparing him now but there is no pressure on him and he has to enjoy himself.
"Don't crash, drive as many laps as possible and get used to the car," the Austrian added. "The rest will then come naturally."
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I think he can return in Qatar at the earliest as broken bones can take surprisignly long to wholly heal, so the Italian GP definitely will come too soon & probably also the Singapore GP, perhaps even the Japanese GP.
You're on, Jere, longshot Singapore, even money Japan...with a special brace. I have broken that bone in my hand. The challenge is regaining grip strength. RIC is already in Spain with surgery scheduled. He's an Aussie, if the docs can brace the bone, he'll be racing inside 4 weeks. Meanwhile, great opp for Lawson.
A rare injury for an F1 driver, perhaps the circumstances of the corner it happened on, but i lean towards a mistake from DR he knows you take your hands off the wheel, we all know you take your hands off the wheel, some things Colgate cant protect you from it seems
He simply didn't have enough time to take his hands off before tech-pro impact.
Does his brain only only work on his right hand?