During the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Liam Lawson officially made his debut in a Formula 1 car as an AlphaTauri driver, replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo, who suffered a broken hand following an accident during the second free practice session.
In fact, to try to avoid Oscar Piastri, who had spun in turn three a few seconds earlier, the Australian had reached the block, ending up against the barriers. The steering wheel moved violently on impact, breaking the metacarpal in his left hand which forced him to abandon the event. After the necessary checks, Ricciardo then went to Barcelona on the following day to complete a surgery that should facilitate his return.
Currently, no one knows exactly the recovery times, even if initially Christian Horner had hinted that a return already in Singapore could not be ruled out, in what would be a race against time in one of the most difficult appointments on the calendar.
Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
What is certain for the moment is that Liam Lawson will replace him in the next rounds, not only because he is a reserve for the team, but also because a team cannot field more than four different riders during the season. In fact, Ricciardo was already the third driver to have driven for the Faenza team, since he had replaced Nyck de Vries since the Hungarian Grand Prix.
In a statement, 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 back on track very soon, but until he is fully fit, we can confirm that Liam, who did a good job under difficult circumstances at Zandvoort, will continue to ride alongside Yuki, starting with our race in home this weekend in Monza.”
Already on his return after Zandvoort, Lawson will go to Milton Keynes to shoot on the simulator, in order to be able to prepare for the next stage in Italy.
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