Daniel Ricciardo admitted that the recovery period from his injury was “tougher” than he originally thought it would be ahead of his return at the United States Grand Prix.
Ricciardo broke his left hand during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix on just the third weekend of his Formula 1 comeback, having replaced Nyck De Vries at AlphaTauri.
The Australian had competed in Hungary and Belgium before a crash at Zandvoort put a stop to his acclimatisation with the AT04, causing him to miss the rest of the Dutch GP weekend and the subsequent four rounds, with New Zealander Liam Lawson acting as stand-in.
Now, Ricciardo states the “hand is good,” but he just wants “to get back to it now” after a lengthy and, tougher than expected rehab.
“Well, I would say, tougher than I thought,” Ricciardo remarked when probed on the subject.
“But I’m probably a bit of a wuss as well. So maybe not tougher than I thought!
“I think it was really just when the accident happened, and we were aware of what bone broke, they seemed fairly OK with that bone, in terms of ‘oh yeah, it’s a relatively easy one’, to let’s say, fix.
“But then, yeah, when we got the surgery done in Spain, we got further checks done and it was just the break was a lot worse than it first seemed.
“So I think that’s what took a lot longer for the recovery, and probably made it a little more painful for myself.”
In the interim period, AlphaTauri has made revisions to its AT04 design, with the car undoubtedly being different to the one Riccairdo last drove back in late August.
So not only does Ricciardo have to relearn the car when he gets back behind the wheel, but he admits he is still getting to grips with the rigours of being back in F1 full-time.
“So, I went out to Singapore where they had some pretty big updates,” he added. “And that was actually a pretty positive weekend for the team.
“So that looked good. And the drivers were saying that they could feel some good differences.
“So yeah, I’m expecting a car that is a little stronger than where I left it.
“But I mean, it’s going to be the third race I’ve done this year, so I’m still very green for this season.
“But in saying that, I’m not using that as an excuse, but yeah, everything kind of still feels new to me.”
Ricciardo reclaims the race seat from Lawson, who impressed during his stint as the Australian’s understudy.
Lawson was particularly impressive in Singapore, where he finished a fine ninth in his first race at the gruelling Marina Bay Circuit.
Riccardo has beaten Lawson to a full-time seat at AlphaTauri for 2024 and the Australian gave a short response when meriting the New Zealander’s progress in his short stint with the team.
“Yes. One does,” Ricciardo said when asked if he thought Lawson had done well in his place. “He did a very good job.”
