Following a surgical procedure for his broken hand, Daniel Ricciardo faced some disheartening updates.
The Aussie racer, who collided with the barriers at Zandvoort after an unfortunate encounter with countrymate Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, was initially identified with a fractured metacarpal in his left hand.
He was immediately put in a cast at a hospital close to the Dutch GP circuit and then travelled to Barcelona for specialized treatment under the esteemed orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Xavier Mir – the same surgeon who earlier this year attended to Lance Stroll’s broken bones.
At the outset, Christian Horner from Red Bull had indicated that the 33-year-old Ricciardo, who’s been in the rumour mill for a potential return to the Red Bull team next season, had aspirations of being back in his Alpha Tauri seat by the Singapore race.
This would have allowed his stand-in, Liam Lawson, one more chance behind the wheel at Monza – Lawson, though he started last during the qualifying session, impressively finished 13th in the Dutch GP.
Sharing an update from his hospital bed, Ricciardo uploaded an Instagram post with a caption: “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.”
However, the prognosis from Dr. Mir was less than encouraging.
“The operation went well,” shared Alpha Tauri’s CEO, Peter Bayer, “even if the fracture was more complicated than we thought. I just spoke to his manager,” Bayer informed Sky Deutschland, “He will stay in Barcelona for a few days now to observe the healing process.”
Weighing in on the situation, Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko stated, “Unfortunately, it’s a complicated break. It’s not a straight break. We’ll get a confirmation from the doctor soon, but things are looking bad for the next two races.”
The race calendar has the Japanese GP listed for late September, following the races in Monza and Singapore.
