Daniel Ricciardo receives bad health news as Aussie Formula One star’s AlphaTauri comeback hits another setback

Bad health news is delivered to Daniel Ricciardo.

The Qatar Grand Prix is expected to be Daniel Ricciardo’s last.

Liam Lawson has taken over as the temporary replacement for the Australian.

According to reports, Daniel Ricciardo will not compete in this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
This will be the Australian driver’s second missed race.

Since suffering multiple fractures to his left hand from a bad crash during practice at the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Ricciardo, 34, has had to observe from a distance.
.

The former Red Bull athlete had surgery to treat the injury, and AlphaTauri has been cautious not to bring him back before he is fully recovered.

Young Kiwi racer Liam Lawson has filled in admirably during his absence, outperforming Japanese star Yuki Tsunoda in all four of his appearances on the big stage and outqualifying Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Despite Lawson’s impressive performances, AlphaTauri decided to keep Ricciardo and Tsunoda for the 2024 season.
However, the New Zealander will probably get another chance to drive in Qatar.

Chris Medland of the F1 publication Racer reported that Liam Lawson would be racing at AlphaTauri in Qatar for one more weekend.
.

“Daniel Ricciardo’s simulation went well, but he’s not quite at 100 percent, and trying FP1 and finding it’s a little early would have really hurt Lawson on a Sprint weekend,” said Ricciardo.
‘ .

Now that he has missed races in the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Japan, and Qatar, Ricciardo hopes to make up for it at the United States Grand Prix later this month.

Jonathan Eddolls, the chief engineer for AlphaTauri, stated at the Japanese Grand Prix that they would wait until Ricciardo is in the best condition before letting him drive again.
.

In Singapore, we all saw him, he said.
He’s still going through the healing process. I would say that we are still talking in the future, so I wouldn’t want to set a deadline for it.
Recovery is proceeding smoothly.

“Before a return, we’ve got some simulator work planned.”.
It doesn’t seem necessary to get him back too soon, in my opinion, from both our and his perspectives. The worst case scenario would be to return and cause any problems before it has fully healed.
‘.

Ricciardo will be put through a fitness test during his simulator sessions, the former Red Bull athlete said.

He’ll get in because the simulator accurately depicts the car and all of the loads, according to Eddolls.

“I believe that rather than from us, he will make the final decision.
As I said, we aren’t pressuring him to return because he will know how the pain and recovery are going better than anyone.

There’s no rush because we currently have a pool of three excellent drivers. The emphasis is on his complete recovery so that it won’t even be a topic of conversation when he returns.
‘.

Daniel Ricciardo receives bad health news as the Australian Formula One star’s AlphaTauri comeback faces yet another obstacle.
Share or comment on this article.