A crash during the second practice session at Zandvoort saw AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo being taken to the local hospital. With Ricciardo potentially out of the Dutch GP and subsequent races, there was an opportunity for Nyck de Vries to have a shot at redemption by famously taking his seat back. However, Sky Germany reported that Helmut Marko had another replacement lined up for the team.
During the second practice session, Ricciardo crashed into the barrier while he avoided Oscar Piastri’s actions at turn 3 of the circuit. The Perth-born driver was rushed to the hospital and evidently suffered a big injury to his hand.
Following the incident, Nyck de Vries emerged as the frontrunner to replace the 34-year-old, but fate did not side with the Dutchman. Helmut Marko has instead chosen to go with Red Bull Academy graduate, Liam Lawson his F1 debut.
Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo in AlphaTauri
After confirming that Daniel Ricciardo had broken his hand after the crash, AlphaTauri had to quickly come up with a suitable replacement for the team. With Liam Lawson traveling alongside the team for the Dutch GP, the New Zealand driver will be Ricciardo’s replacement.
“We are very happy with Ricciardo’s performance. I hope he didn’t hurt his hand. He is at the hospital for an X-Ray. So we have Ricciardo. We have Lawson. You always have to have a Plan B as well. We want to do next year with Perez as well, but he needs to perform for that.”
Hopes of Ricciardo still making the race on Sunday have died down with the latest update. The former McLaren star suffered a broken metacarpal on his left hand. Meanwhile, Lawson has had a decent racing season as he sits second in Japan’s Super Formula Championship.
Lawson has a huge opportunity knocking on his door
When AlphaTauri replaced de Vries with Ricciardo, there was a hope that the latter would soon head back to Red Bull, replacing Sergio Perez. He was off to a good start with AlphaTauri, outperforming his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, at the Hungarian GP. However, the latest injury has proven to be a major hiccup in his bid to take up a potential seat at Red Bull.
The 34-year-old’s injury has proven to be a blessing in disguise for Lawson. The Red Bull academy star will be keen on proving his mettle to the team in hopes of taking up a more permanent role in F1 in the future. Furthermore, he could also become another prospect for Red Bull to consider if they were to ask Sergio Perez to vacate his seat. The 21-year-old will be under immense pressure heading into his F1 debut, given the circumstances, but he will certainly look to leave a good impression.
