The comeback season for Daniel Ricciardo has been far from optimum. After replacing Nyck de Vries two races before the mid-season break, the 34-year-old looked in good form before an unfortunate crash in Zandvoort ruled him out from racing once again. Following the Dutch GP, the question of Ricciardo’s return has always been an important one. The Race quotes AlphaTauri’s Head of Trackside Engineering, Jonathan Eddolls, as he gives the latest update on the comeback.
Following a crash during FP2 in Zandvoort, Ricciardo broke his left hand, rendering him unable to drive in F1. After surgery, Helmut Marko revealed the full extent of the 34-year-old’s injury as he admitted to Ricciardo having seven fractures. In his absence, Liam Lawson stepped up to fill the seat and has impressed everyone since then. Despite Lawson’s impressive performances, all eyes are still on Ricciardo’s return as he vies for a Red Bull seat in the future.
Daniel Ricciardo not coming back before late October
With each passing race, the tale of Ricciardo‘s return adds a new page to it. While there were hopes of the Australian driver racing in Singapore, it was later revealed he would only be involved in an ‘engineering’ role with the team in the paddock. The Qatar GP was next in line, but The Race reports Eddolls’ words as he states Ricciardo won’t be back “for a while.”
“(The comeback is) still a while away, so we wouldn’t want to put a target on it.”
“From our side and his side, there’s no rush to get him back too early.”
Eddolls added the recovery was going well for Ricciardo and that the team has planned some simulator work for him soon. Judging by his words, the earliest possible comeback for Ricciardo could be the US GP in late October.
As such, Lawson has one more race to leave a lasting impression despite Ricciardo and Tsunoda being named AlphaTauri drivers for the next season.
Ricciardo secures a driving seat for 2024 despite Lawson’s performances
Liam Lawson made one of the most chaotic F1 debuts when he had to replace Ricciardo a day before the Dutch GP. However, it was not too daunting for the New Zealander as he stepped up and put in an incredible drive with little time to practice. He then knocked out Max Verstappen in Q2 in Singapore and became only the second AlphaTauri driver to score points this season. In Japan, Lawson once again outperformed his teammate and secured a P11 finish.
Despite so many achievements in such a short time, Lawson did not see himself earning a permanent seat for next season as AlphaTauri chose to go with the Ricciardo-Tsunoda partnership while Lawson would fulfill sim/reserve driver duties for Red Bull.
However, with Logan Sargeant struggling at Williams, a possibility suggests the team might try to poach the New Zealand driver.
