AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo will demonstrate a Red Bull F1 car in Nashville next weekend ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
Ricciardo has missed the previous four grands prix after breaking his hand in a crash during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix in late August. He had a run in the AlphaTauri simulator earlier this week but decided against returning for this weekend’s round in QatarBefore being drafted in to AlphaTauri to replace Nyck de Vries in July, Ricciardo had acted as third driver for the senior Red Bull team during the early part of the season. As part of those duties, the 34-year-old was scheduled to demonstrate a 2011 world championship-winning Red Bull RB7 at a show run in the Tennessee city of Nashville on Saturday October 14th – one week before the United States Grand Prix is held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
RaceFans understands that Ricciardo is still expected to participate in the event in Nashville, which will be his first time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car since his injury. This is expected to pave the way for Ricciardo to the cockpit to race alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri for the first time since he broke his hand in Zandvoort.
During Ricciardo’s absence his seat has been filled by Red Bull junior and reserve driver Liam Lawson. The rookie has enjoyed an impressive run in his stint in the car, securing AlphaTauri’s best finish of the season in Singapore with an eighth place at the Marina Bay circuit.
AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bauer said it was “definitely the plan” for Ricciardo to return to their car in Austin.
“He was in the simulator on Monday and he said that he could go almost until the end, but it was not 100% and we didn’t want to rush things,” said Bauer. “Given that on the other hand we have this amazing luxury of having a top third driver who can jump into the seat [in] Liam, so we together decided we give him a bit more time. And [Ricciardo] should be in the car in in Austin.”
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