Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that Daniel Ricciardo is hoping to return to action at the Singapore Grand Prix, which takes place in three weeks’ time.
Ricciardo has flown to Barcelona following a crash in Free Practice 1 at the Dutch Grand Prix, which broke a bone in his left hand.
Ricciardo crashed into a barrier at Turn 3 after not seeing until the last second that Oscar Piastri had crashed ahead of him, due to the corner being blind.
The AlphaTauri driver put his own car into the wall to avoid directly hitting Piastri, something which would’ve been horrific to see.
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Ricciardo didn’t have time though, to take his hands off the steering wheel, resulting in the broken bone.
The injury has ruled him out of the Dutch GP and potentially even the Italian Grand Prix, although the latter is yet to be confirmed.
Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson has replaced Ricciardo for the remainder of the weekend.
Horner gave an update on Ricciardo’s condition on Saturday and revealed that the usual recovery time from his injury is “10-12 weeks”.
“He’s headed off today to Barcelona,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“They may even have a little operation on him tomorrow to just tidy up where that break is. It’s quite a clean break. Then it’s all about the recuperation and how long that takes. Any normal human being would probably be about 10-12 weeks, but we know that these guys aren’t normal.”
The Red Bull boss went on to explain how “frustrated” Ricciardo is with the injury, given that he’s only recently returned to the sport.
“I think that’s the thing he was most frustrated about, talking with him last night, was that he’d just taken a bunch of time off, just got his mojo back, getting back into it and now he’s on the bench again. That was I think his frustration,” Horner added.
The Australian felt that AlphaTauri were starting to really make some progress with the AT04, with him now hoping to be back in the car at the formidable Marina Bay Circuit.
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This is where Williams’ Alex Albon returned last season, after his appendix burst at the Italian Grand Prix.
“He felt that the car, they’ve started to make some progress, shame for him, but I’m sure that in the back of his mind, he’s probably got Singapore as a target,” Horner said.
“Then again, Singapore is probably one of the most toughest circuits on the calendar. Nature will take its course.”