Apologies to all the Daniel Ricciardo stans out there (I like to call us Ricciard-hos) but I come bearing bad news about our boy’s recent injury.
Red Bull team principal / Ginger Spice’s husband Christian Horner has offered an update on the timeline of Ricciardo, 34, returning to the Formula 1 grid for Red Bull sister team AlphaTauri after breaking a bone in his hand on August 25.
Previously, Horner had claimed that Daniel Ricciardo could be back racing by the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17, i.e. less than a MONTH after surgery on his hand. But Horner has since walked back those stupidly optimistic claims.
As reported by website PlanetF1, Horner told media at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix: “I think certainly Singapore, I don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be ready for that.” Uh, ya think?
“And I think it will be optimistic for Japan,” Horner added, in a rare moment of self-awareness. The Japan Grand Prix takes place on September 24, just a week after Singapore.
“But I think his recovery is going well. He’s got mobility of the hand, he’s into rehabilitation now, but we’ve seen with motorcyclists, rushing comebacks can sometimes do more damage.” I hate to repeat myself, but: uh, ya think?!
As much as I want to see Danny Ric back on the grid — especially because we waited so long for our king to make his big return — I also don’t want him to sacrifice his healing just to get back out there.
After all, the hand is a pretty key body part for driving a car.
After his crash during a practice drive for the Dutch Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo had given an upbeat (and shirtless) dispatch from his hospital bed, saying “This ain’t a setback, just all part of the comeback.”
Here’s hoping for another partially-clothed update from the man himself soon.
