After Daniel Ricciardo’s hand injury, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner warns against a hasty comeback – return possibly not until Qatar
Daniel Ricciardo is unlikely to return to Formula 1 racing before the Qatar Grand Prix after fracturing his hand, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hinted on the sidelines of the recent race weekend in Monza.
The AlphaTauri driver suffered a fractured metacarpal bone in practice for last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, which required surgery.
Horner, whose team has signed Ricciardo as its third driver and has loaned him out to sister team AlphaTauri since Nyck de Vries’ sacking, says Ricciardo’s recovery is on track though. But the next two races in Singapore and Japan are likely to be too early for the 34-year-old to return.
Horner warns against a hasty return
“I don’t think he will be ready by Singapore. And I think Japan would be optimistic,” Horner said when asked about a timetable for Ricciardo’s injury comeback. “But his recovery is going well. He’s obviously got some immobility in his hand and he’s in rehabilitation now.”
Patience is now required, he added: “We’ve seen with motorcyclists that sometimes rushed comebacks can do more damage, so I think we just want to make sure he’s fully fit before he gets back in the car. “
At Zandvoort, Red Bull used their rookie driver Liam Lawson to replace Ricciardo from the third Free Practice session at AlphaTauri. In Monza, the 21-year-old New Zealander completed his first full Grand Prix weekend and finished just outside the points in eleventh place.
His performance was not, however, comparable to that of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who was unable to compete due to a problem with the power unit.
Substitute driver Lawson makes positive impression
“I think he did a solid job,” Horner assessed Lawson’s performance at Monza. “I didn’t follow his race that closely. They opted for two stops, which was unconventional. I’ll have to look at the analysis after the race, but I think he did very well. “
While the next stop on the Singapore street circuit will be a big challenge for Lawson, he knows Suzuka all too well from Super Formula in Japan. “I think he’s pretty eager to be in the car there,” Horner says.
“But we’ll take it day by day and see how things develop,” he continues. And Lawson himself doesn’t want to look too far into the future just yet.
Asked if he is excited at the prospect of swapping his Super Formula car for a Formula One car at Suzuka, he replies, “If I get the chance. I have no idea at the moment what will happen. So I will prepare as normal, but we will wait and see. “
