“Frustrating to hit pause” on AlphaTauri F1 comeback, says Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo believes it was "frustrating" to "hit pause" on his Formula One comeback with AlphaTauri before his return to the cockpit in Austin.
Ricciardo

(Motorsports news) Daniel Ricciardo injured his wrist in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in August, ending his F1 career after only two races. Ricciardo sat out five racing weekends while being replaced by reserve driver Liam Lawson, but will return to the wheel of AlphaTauri’s AT04 at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

“It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races,” Ricciardo added. “Especially as I’d gotten myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit pause again, but actually, the time without racing went quite quickly.” Ricciardo said that he was not yet at his “full potential” when he tested his hand in a pre-Qatar simulator session, but he now feels totally prepared to race again.

“My hand is much better, and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it,” he went on to say. “I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was performing to its full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, until I felt ready to go.”

“My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while.” While Ricciardo was out, Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda benefited from an updated AlphaTauri, allowing the former to gain two points in Singapore.

However, the Faenza team is remains last in the championship, seven points behind ninth-placed Haas, which has also brought major upgrades to Austin. “The current car has moved on a bit since I last drove it, but the sim was useful to get an idea of what the changes and updates have delivered,” Ricciardo said of his recovery vehicle.

“I felt a little bit of their effect, but I think once I get back on track, I’ll feel them to their full effect.

Also read: Red Bull unveiled a fan-designed Texan livery for the F1 US Grand Prix

SHARE:

Share The Article:

Leave A Reply

Related news