(Motorsports news) Daniel Ricciardo replaced the expelled Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri after the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. Nyck de Vries had lost his McLaren driving to Oscar Piastri at the end of 2022. Zandvoort, where he was starting his third weekend with the Red Bull-owned team, Ricciardo’s Friday was cut short when he crashed little under 20 minutes into FP2.
The eight-time winner of the grand prix appears to have been caught off guard by the collision involving McLaren’s Piastri in front of him at Turn 3. Ricciardo kept his injured left hand near to his chest as he cautiously extricated himself from his damaged AlphaTauri, initially complaining over the radio to his team that he had hurt it.
Ricciardo has been brought to the hospital for precautionary examinations, although there is still little information available regarding his condition. This was confirmed to the media by the FIA. A succinct statement said, “We can confirm that Daniel Ricciardo has been transferred to the neighborhood hospital for additional checks following his crash in FP2.”
When prompted on the subject by Viaplay in the Netherlands, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko declined to get into conjecture about who would replace Ricciardo should he be found unfit. He stated of Ricciardo’s condition, “We don’t know yet, but he is… quite pained, his hand, wrist certainly sustained some damage, but we have to wait till we get the correct diagnosis.
It’s a novel circumstance. Prior to discussing our course of action, we must first determine with certainty whether Daniel is capable of operating a motor vehicle. Due to his inability to finish the practice, Ricciardo finished FP2 last on the timesheets. Lando Norris’ second McLaren finished first. Ricciardo finished 13th in the first hour-long practice session this morning.
Red Bull youngster Liam Lawson is present at Zandvoort in case Daniel is unable to finish the rest of the Dutch GP weekend. Lawson, who finished third in the Formula 2 standings a year ago, is now competing in Super Formula in Japan, where he is presently second in the standings after three victories for Team Mugen.
However, due to Lawson’s lack of F1 experience and the fact that he hasn’t competed in FP1 yet in 2023, AlphaTauri may also turn to De Vries to make an improbable comeback at his home event. Lawson, who is already at Zandvoort, might also be called upon to take Ricciardo’s spot. Prior to being fired, De Vries competed in a challenging 10-race season for AlphaTauri, finishing no better than 12th at Monaco in May.
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