Written by Max Smolarski, Edited by Juan Arroyo
Liam Lawson will sub in for Daniel Ricciardo for the remainder of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend after the Australian suffered a metacarpal (palm bones) injury in Free Practice 2, ruling him out for the rest of the event.
The crash ruling Daniel Ricciardo out happened just 10 minutes into FP2 at Zandvoort, after a lockup into the high banking of turn 3, hitting the barrier without letting go of the steering wheel.
AlphaTauri confirmed the injury in a statement, writing: "An X-ray confirmed [Ricciardo] sustained a break to a metacarpal on his left hand, and this injury will not allow him to continue his duties, so he will be replaced by the team’s reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remainder of this weekend.
The team wishes Daniel all the best for the quickest possible recovery."
Lawson was selected as AlphaTauri’s reserve driver for 2023, standing by at events that did not clash with his ongoing Super Formula Championship campaign should a situation have arisen. With the Italian Grand Prix next week, it is unclear if the injury will rule out Ricciardo from the track he claimed victory at in 2021.
Lawson had been considered to join AlphaTauri after Hungary, with the team rather choosing to place Ricciardo in the seat following Nyck De Vries’ stint being cut short. AlphaTauri opted for the 8-time race winner, as his form in Silverstone testing was impressive, in addition to letting Lawson complete his Super Formula season.
The New Zealander is currently second in the Super Formula standings with three wins to his name, with a break ongoing before the remaining two races in Suzuka in late October. He also previously participated in three Formula 1 test sessions in 2022, two for AlphaTauri in Belgium and Mexico, and one for Red Bull at Abu Dhabi.
The Divebomb team wishes a speedy recovery to Daniel Ricciardo.