Daniel Ricciardo likely to target Singapore GP return, says Christian Horner – MyCyberBase

Red Bull boss Christian Horner expects Daniel Ricciardo will target the Singapore Grand Prix on Sep. 17 to return to Formula One.

Ricciardo broke a bone in his hand after crashing his AlphaTauri during Friday practice for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, an injury which is expected to sideline him for next week’s race in Monza as well.

Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson will make his debut in Ricciardo’s place in the company’s sister team.

Ricciardo has travelled to Spain to see Dr Javier Mir, the same specialist who helped Lance Stroll race at the opening round of the season despite breaking his wrist in a bicycle crash 12 days before.

“These guys, you see it in MotoGP, they bounce back pretty quick,” Horner told Sky Sports on Saturday. “He’s headed off today to Barcelona. They may even have a little operation on him tomorrow to just tidy up where that break is.

“Any normal human being would probably be 10 to 12 weeks but we know these guys aren’t normal. It will all be about the recovery process, how long will that take?

“Is it going to be three weeks? A month? Is it six weeks? Nobody really knows.”

The injury was a cruel blow to Ricciardo, who had only returned to F1 with AlphaTauri two races before F1’s summer break.

Ricciardo was dropped by McLaren at the end of 2022 and picked up by Red Bull, the team he left in 2018, as third driver.

The Australian driver replaced the out of from Nyck de Vries from July’s Hungarian Grand Prix in a deal until the end of the year, with the ultimate goal being to one day return to Red Bull’s senior team, something which likely would require another full season with AlphaTauri next year.

“That was the thing he was most frustrated about talking with him last night,” Horner said. “He’s just taken a bunch of time off, just got his mojo back, back into it, now he’s on the bench again. That was his frustration.

“They’ve [Alpha Tauri] started to make some progress. A shame for him but I am sure that at the back of his mind he has got Singapore as a target but then again Singapore is probably one of the toughest circuits on the calendar. Nature will take its course.”

The injury presents a huge opportunity to Lawson, who Red Bull had placed in Japanese series Super Formula this year.

Lawson was believed to be in the frame for an AlphaTauri drive. Part of Ricciardo’s decision to return with AlphaTauri this year was the fear that Lawson might have taken De Vries’ spot instead, impressed Red Bull management and kept the seat long term, slamming the door shut on Ricciardo’s opportunity.