Daniel Ricciardo will be aiming to return to Formula 1 at the Singapore Grand Prix in three weeks time, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes.
The AlphaTauri driver broke a bone in his left hand when he crashed at turn three during yesterday’s second practice session at Zandvoort. Ricciardo is travelling to Spain today to see a specialist in injuries of this type.Horner said the injury could take up to three months to heal, but he expects Ricciardo will plan to return much sooner than that.
“These guys, we see it in Moto GP, they bounce back pretty quick,” Horner told Sky. “So 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.
“Then of course it’s all about the recuperation and how long that takes. Fit or any normal human being will probably be about 10 to 12 weeks, but we know that these guys aren’t normal.
“So then it’ll all be about the recovery process, how long that will take, is it going to be three weeks, is it a month, is it six weeks? Nobody really knows.”
Ricciardo only returned to F1 two races ago after being dropped by McLaren at the end of last season. “I think that’s the thing he was most frustrated about, talking with him last night,0.02.3.3.3gvbbbbbv was that he’d just taken a bunch of time off, just got his mojo back getting back into it, and now he’s on the bench again,” said Horner.
“So that was, I think, his frustration. I think he felt that the car, they’ve started to make some progress and that’s a shame for him.”
This weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix is the first of eight races in 11 weeks. After next week’s race at Monza the series has one weekend off before resuming at Singapore, where Horner suspects Ricciardo will aim to return.
“I’m sure at the back of his mind he’s probably got Singapore as a target. But then again, Singapore’s probably one of the most tough circuits on the calendar. But, nature will take its course.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Dutch Grand Prix
- Azerbaijan GP defeat was key to record-equalling run of wins – Verstappen
- “Too early to say” if podium signals return to form for Aston Martin – Alonso
- Verstappen makes history with unbeaten hat-track in first home races
- Perez is ‘doing his job and will be our driver in 2024’, Horner insists
- Ferrari had the “sixth or seventh fastest car” at Zandvoort – Sainz
Jere (@jerejj)
26th August 2023, 12:49
That could be a stretch risky, though, so I hope he won’t hastily rush his return at all costs.
Btw, that certain specialized doctor is apparently in Barcelona.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th August 2023, 12:52
I agree there @jerejj, I think it’s really important for Daniel to make sure he’s fully healed before he gets back in. Otherwise he might not heal fully and he will struggle to deliver on the pressure to perform he will be under from the team.
Kringle
26th August 2023, 13:58
“I think that’s the thing he was most frustrated about, talking with him last night,0.02.3.3.3gvbbbbbv was that he’d just taken a bunch of time off, just got his mojo back getting back into it, and now he’s on the bench again,” said Horner.
Always knew he wasn’t normal.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
26th August 2023, 22:49
Ahah, that was a fun error for me too!
Damien (@logic)
27th August 2023, 8:32
I assume someone owns a cat :)
MichaelN
26th August 2023, 19:31
They’re not even pretending this is an independent team anymore, are they? Why is Red Bull allowed to have four cars when there are multiple real teams wanting to join F1?
Anyway, no reason to rush things with an injury. Although it’s easy to see why Ricciardo can’t afford to waste this opportunity.
elvira
27th August 2023, 5:19
As I recall it, nobody wanted Minardi and Matesich stepped up as a favour to rescue Bernie and Max M from the ignominy of a very sparse grid.