Injured his left hand during free practice for the Dutch Grand Prix last August, Daniel Ricciardo hoped to be recovered in time for the Qatari round of the F1 world championship. However, the AlphaTauri team is not optimistic about this.
Daniel Ricciardo is in the dark. Victim of a fractured metacarpal in his left hand last August, the Australian driver saw his return to the starting grid at AlphaTauri be slowed down after only two races. While a recovery could be hoped for in Singapore, it has not yet taken place and the hope of seeing him behind the wheel in Qatar from October 6 to 8 is dwindling.
« He is still in this convalescence phase. We are still far from a returntold the British magazine Autosport track engineering director Jonathan Eddols so we wouldn’t want to give a target. Convalescence is going well. We have some work planned on the simulator before returning. » The goal is to allow Daniel Ricciardo to get back behind the wheel of his car when he is 100% recovered from this fracture. “ The worst would be if he came back without being truly healed and that caused problems., added Jonathan Eddols. So that remains to be seen. »
Ricciardo will make the decision to return or not
The test in the simulator will be the justice of the peace regarding Daniel Ricciardo since it is “a very good representation of the car, of all the loads”, according to the engineer of the AlphaTauri team, who concedes that the Australian driver will have the last word. “ He will know better than anyone what the pain level is and how the recovery is goingconfided Jonathan Eddols. We’re not putting any pressure on him to come back.. »
The former McLaren driver should be replaced by Liam Lawson in the race at the Losail circuit, for which a sprint will take place on Saturday. The New Zealander, who should not be established in 2024 by AlphaTauri, “has upgraded very, very quickly” according to the engineer, who concedes that Yuki Tsunoda “retains the advantage over him” for the benefit of the ‘experience. “ I think we are all excited to work with him on other races while we wait for Daniel to recover. », concluded Jonathan Eddols. Which should last a little longer, the Australian’s return could be postponed to the United States Grand Prix at the end of October in Austin.
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