27/08/2023
NEWS STORY
Following surgery to his injured hand, it appears certain that Daniel Ricciardo will miss next weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
The Australian injured his left hand in a crash during practice on Friday. He subsequently travelled to Spain where earlier today he was operated on by Dr Xavier Mir, the doctor who operated on Lance Stroll following his pre-season cycling accident.
Taking to social media, Ricciardo gave fans an update on his progress: "Hey everyone. Had surgery this morning, 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."
Speaking to reporters at Zandvoort gave further information on the operation.
"He had an operation earlier today," said the Red Bull boss. "He's had several screws and a plate fitted.
"It went well, it was successful," he added. "The bone was broken in multiple places but it was a fairly straightforward procedure.
"So now it's all about recovery. It's quite a clean break and then, of course, it's all about the recuperation and how long that takes. For a normal human being, that would be a couple of months. For a grand prix driver, it's often much shorter."
"For me, it looks like Liam will do Monza," said AlphaTauri boss, Franz Tost, "because I don't think that Daniel will be ready to race in Monza.
"We will send him to the sim this week to be prepared for Monza," he added, referring to the New Zealander.
"They've started to make some progress, it's a shame for him," said Horner. "I'm sure, at the back of his mind, he's probably got Singapore as a target. But then again, Singapore is probably one of the most tough circuits on the calendar. Nature will take its course."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.