Liam Lawson will fill in for Daniel Ricciardo at the AlphaTauri Formula 1 team as the Australian would not be able to join Italian Grand Prix because of his broken hand.
The Australian crashed into turn three during FP2 at Belgian Grand Prix, where the front wheels locked and slid the car into a barrier. The crash caused steering wheel to break upon impact which resulted in metacarpal injuring his left hand. The injury has deprived him of further driving.
Ricciardo underwent surgery at the hands of renowned MotoGP doctor, Xavier Mir. Reportedly, the “metal work” took place in Barcelona on Sunday.
On Monday, AlpaTauri announced his replacement, Lawson, for the time “he is fully fit”. Lawson made his F1 race debut, who had previously appeared for three FP1 sessions with Red Bull and AlphaTauri last season.
The Kiwi driver managed to finish 13th in the Dutch GP, while his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda finished in 16th place.
The team said: “We are delighted that Daniel’s surgery went well. And that he is now on the road to recovery.
“We hope to see him at the track again very soon. But until he is fully fit. We can confirm that Liam, who did a good job in difficult circumstances in Zandvoort, will continue to drive alongside Yuki, starting from our home race this weekend in Monza.”
Lawson as replacement
Franz Tost, AlphaTauri team boss, revealed that Lawson would work behind the simulator before the Monza GP.
Ricciardo’s incident happened in a critical time as the season heads into Italian GP. Singapore and Japan double header will take place after a week break.
Ricciardo updated about his health after the operation on Instagram: “Hey everyone. Had surgery this morning, got my first bit of metal work so that’s pretty cool.
“Big thanks to everyone who reached out and kept my spirits up. This ain’t a setback, just all part of the comeback.”
Horner on Ricciardo health
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, believed Ricciardo aimed to be back for Singapore. But insisted that the “nature will take its course.”
Horner added: “He’s just taken a bunch of time off. Just getting his mojo back, getting back into it and now he’s on the bench again. That was, I think, his frustration.
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“I think he felt that the car, they’ve started to make some progress and it’s a shame for him.
“But I’m sure, at the back of his mind, he’s probably got Singapore as a target.”
He added: “But then again, Singapore is probably one of the most tough circuits on the calendar. But nature will take its course.”
