In a disappointing turn of events, Daniel Ricciardo suffered a broken metacarpal during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. As a result, Red Bull junior Liam Lawson will step in and make his Formula One debut with AlphaTauri in place of Ricciardo.
The incident occurred when Ricciardo collided heavily with the barriers during the second practice session on Friday. Earlier in the session, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had also crashed at the same corner. Ricciardo’s immediate distress was evident as he cursed over the radio, lamenting the pain in his hand.
After exiting the car, Ricciardo was seen holding his left arm and later left the circuit with it in a sling. Subsequent hospital checkups confirmed the break, which AlphaTauri announced on Friday evening.
Interestingly, Ricciardo only recently rejoined AlphaTauri in July, where he replaced Nyck de Vries. Unfortunately for him, this crash occurred almost a year after McLaren’s decision not to continue with him beyond 2022, leaving him without a race seat initially this season.
As for Liam Lawson, the 21-year-old Red Bull protégé will have the opportunity to showcase his potential during a single practice session before Saturday’s qualifying. Lawson had an impressive third-place finish in last year’s Formula 2 championship and subsequently competed in Japan’s Super Formula championship this year. In his debut race at Zandvoort, he will be racing with the number 40 displayed on his car.
Remarkably, Ricciardo’s injury adds an intriguing dynamic. It was widely known that the Australian driver saw his time with AlphaTauri as an audition for a more permanent position, with his eyes set on returning to Red Bull, the team he departed at the end of 2018. Unfortunately, it remains uncertain how long he will be sidelined, and it seems likely that he will miss the upcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza as well. The next race on the Formula One calendar after Monza is the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17th.
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