Ricciardo breaks hand, Lawson to make debut for AlphaTauri

X-rays have confirmed Daniel Ricciardo broke a bone in his hand during a crash in Friday’s second practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, and the Australian has been ruled out of action. AlphaTauri reserve driver Liam Lawson has been called up to replace …

Ricciardo hit the wall at Turn 3 after coming across a stricken McLaren after Oscar Piastri had also had crashed just ahead of him, with the AlphaTauri driver holding onto the steering wheel until impact. Although seemingly innocuous in terms of the speed of the crash, the kickback of the wheel left Ricciardo complaining of pain in his hand, and he was subsequently taken to a local hospital for X-rays.

Those have now confirmed a broken metacarpal for the Australian that will rule him out for an indefinite period of time, with Red Bull opting to put its reserve driver Lawson in the AlphaTauri for the rest of the race weekend, starting with FP3 on Saturday.

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“After today’s incident during Free Practice 2 in Zandvoort, in which Daniel Ricciardo hit the barrier at Turn 3, he was brought to the local hospital and further examinations were carried out,” an AlphaTauri statement read. “An X-ray confirmed he 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 him all the best for the quickest possible recovery.”

Liam Lawson’s FP3 appearance will be his first laps in the current AlphaTauri. Yasushi Ishihara/Motorsport Images

Lawson has yet to drive this year’s AlphaTauri but has carried out simulator duties this year, as well as FP1s and young driver test outings in the past.

Red Bull could have called upon former driver Nyck de Vries as the Dutchman is still understood to be under contract despite losing his race seat, but has instead opted for Lawson who was already at Zandvoort in his reserve driver role.

Lawson is currently racing in Super Formula in Japan, and sits second in the championship after three victories in seven races, with only a doubleheader at Suzuka remaining. The New Zealander raced at Zandvoort in Formula 2 last year.

Norris optimistic McLaren can maintain strong Friday form

Lando Norris says McLaren can definitely remain competitive for the top positions at the Dutch Grand Prix as long as it doesn’t make any mistakes. An interrupted FP2 saw Norris set the pace, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 0.023s on the …

Lando Norris says McLaren can definitely remain competitive for the top positions at the Dutch Grand Prix as long as it doesn’t make any mistakes.

An interrupted FP2 saw Norris set the pace, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 0.023s on the qualifying simulations in the second session. That came after teammate Oscar Piastri had crashed earlier on, but Norris doesn’t believe that clouded the competitive picture too much and says multiple teams will be targeting high grid positions on Saturday.

“I think it’s going to be very close come tomorrow,” Norris said. “It’s a short track — it’s going to be very tight, between many people… You have the Williams there, Alpine are there, AlphaTauris are there, so it’s just going to be a scrap, a lot of people fighting for the top spot.

“It’s going to make it easy to do both things — not easy to get to the top but easy to get knocked out early on, and reward you well if you do a good job. It’s going to be tough. We can stay there, just no mistakes.”

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Norris says McLaren knew it wouldn’t show any relative performance until FP2, having prioritized data gathering in first practice on Friday.

“It’s good to be back in the car. (I was) feeling a little bit rusty, I will say, (but) a few laps and you’re back in it. But a good day for us.

“We sacrificed quite a bit of FP1 to do a lot of aero running so we were a little bit behind on learning and trying and testing some things, but valuable stuff for the future. I think to end up how we did today was encouraging and makes us look forward to tomorrow.”

There was also some words of comfort for Piastri, as Norris praised his performances up to this point and expects the rookie to shake off his crash.

“He can do it himself. It’s not up to me — I’m not the one driving his car. He’ll be all right, he’s done a good job so far. It happens, that’s it — he’s cool.”

Ricciardo hospitalized with possible hand injury following crash in practice

Daniel Ricciardo has been taken to a local hospital for checks on his hand after crashing during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix. The AlphaTauri driver went straight on into the wall at the banked Turn 3 corner, appearing to be distracted by Oscar …

Daniel Ricciardo has been taken to a local hospital for checks on his hand after crashing during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.

The AlphaTauri driver went straight on into the wall at the banked Turn 3 corner, appearing to be distracted by Oscar Piastri’s crash at the same corner just ahead of him that left the McLaren partly on the racing line. Ricciardo took to team radio to say that he had hurt his hand, and immediately took his left glove off before gingerly climbing out.

Ricciardo also signaled to a marshal that he had a problem with his left hand as he sat on the side of his car, shaking his head in frustration before being taken to the medical center.

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The Australian was then pictured leaving the medical center with his arm in a sling, and the FIA confirmed he has been taken to a local hospital for checks.

Should Ricciardo be unfit to race, Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson is on-site at Zandvoort and would need to take part in at least qualifying to be able to start Sunday’s grand prix. AlphaTauri can also still call on Nyck de Vries if required, having replaced the Dutchman with Ricciardo ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Norris upstages Verstappen in second Dutch GP practice

Lando Norris set the pace in second practice for the Dutch Grand Prix but it was a session that was interrupted by a pair of crashes for Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo that left the latter with a potential injury. There had already been a close …

There had already been a close call between Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen at the start of the session when it was red flagged after just nine minutes due to two drivers crashing at the same corner within seconds of each other.

Piastri was first to go off at Turn 3, losing the rear on hard tires and sliding into the wall with the right-hand side of his car, sustaining significant damage. With the McLaren prone on the outside of the banking — partly on the racing line due to the proximity of the barrier at that corner — Ricciardo was next on the scene and locked up as he appeared to react to the crash, going straight into the barrier himself.

Piastri’s car was the more heavily damaged of the two but Ricciardo suggested he had hurt his hand in the incident when asked if he was OK by his team over the radio. The Australian was then pictured leaving the medical centre with his arm in a sling during the session and taken to a local hospital for checks.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Piastri and Ricciardo are stopped by the barriers on the banking! #DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZO4e6ntCM5

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 25, 2023

The interruption meant there was under 40 minutes remaining in the session when it resumed, and Norris at least brought some cheer to the other side of the McLaren garage by setting the pace with a 1m11.330s. Verstappen was second after being more than 0.2s off on his first run, closing the gap to 0.023s having suggested his car was doing “weird things” in medium-speed corners.

Third quickest was Alex Albon as Williams’ strong start to the weekend continued, ending up 0.269s off Norris’ time and ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda.

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Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10, with both Ferrari drivers in the bottom half of the standings during an extremely close session.

While Charles Leclerc was 11th and within 0.6s of the fastest time, Carlos Sainz had a trip through the gravel at Turn 11 and then another at the penultimate corner as he took part in his first session of the weekend having stepped aside for Robert Shwartzman in FP1. Sainz was still just 0.763s off the pace in 16th, with the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg the slowest of those to complete the session, both over a second adrift.

Verstappen tops Alonso in Dutch GP FP1

Max Verstappen led Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, as Nico Hulkenberg caused a red flag. Hulkenberg briefly interrupted proceedings when he spun off at the penultimate corner, losing the rear of his …

Max Verstappen led Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, as Nico Hulkenberg caused a red flag.

Hulkenberg briefly interrupted proceedings when he spun off at the penultimate corner, losing the rear of his Haas and sliding into the gravel. The banked gravel trap quickly stopped the car and there was only the lightest touch of the front wing against the barrier, but it needed to be removed via a crane so running was delayed by eight minutes.

The interruption cut short Hamilton’s soft tire run, with the Mercedes driver 0.3s up on what was the quickest time at that point when the red flag came out. Having been set for a lap time in the region of 1m12.0s, he ended up with a best lap of 1m12.225 on the same tires later on, 0.1s behind Alonso and nearly 0.3s adrift of Verstappen’s 1m11.852.

It wasn’t a totally smooth session for Verstappen, though, who ended FP1 with a trip through the gravel at Turn 11 having corrected a snap of oversteer under braking.

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Sergio Perez had been fastest at the red flag but ended up fourth overall, ahead of Alex Albon as Williams impressed. Logan Sargeant also caught the eye with the seventh-quickest time, the pair separated by Lando Norris in the McLaren having gone early with their soft tire efforts.

Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10, although Ocon had a slightly worrying moment when he reported his car going on throttle off its own accord when he was trying to slow down shortly after the red-flag period.

It was a tough start to the weekend for Lance Stroll, who missed part of Thursday’s duties as he recovers from an infection and then managed just two laps before he was confined to the Aston Martin garage with a suspected power unit issue that the team needed to investigate. It was a particularly damaging problem given Aston’s upgraded floor that has been introduced this weekend.

Both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo opted against using soft tires in the opening session, with FP1 rookie Robert Shwartzman slowest of those to set a time but completing 24 error-free laps and ending up 1.3s off teammate Charles Leclerc.

Technical updates: 2023 Dutch Grand Prix

Aston Martin has brought the most significant update to the Dutch Grand Prix, with floor and diffuser changes as it targets second place in the constructors’ championship. Starting the season as the second-quickest team behind Red Bull, Aston had …

Aston Martin has brought the most significant update to the Dutch Grand Prix, with floor and diffuser changes as it targets second place in the constructors’ championship.

Starting the season as the second-quickest team behind Red Bull, Aston had faded slightly prior to the summer break and has failed to score a podium in the past four races. But at Zandvoort it is introducing a new floor –comprising the floor body, floor fences and floor edge — aimed at increasing overall downforce. That update is also coupled with a new diffuser.

Red Bull has a new beam wing this weekend as its only upgrade, but Mercedes continues its own push with tweaks to the floor edge, sidepod inlet — specifically the mirror stays to improve airflow and performance of the rear wing — and beam wing.

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Only two other teams have performance upgrades, with Haas aiming to solve its race pace woes with some new parts. That includes a new front wing and nose assembly, while there is a circuit-specific change to the rear brake ducts for cooling purposes.

At AlphaTauri there are new rear wing endplates which increases efficiency, while McLaren has a rear wing and beam wing tweak that is specific to the demands of Zandvoort.

There are no new parts listed for Ferrari, Alpine, Alfa Romeo or Williams.

Hamilton staying focused on Mercedes’ turnaround, leaving his future plans simmering

Lewis Hamilton says there is no update on his contract situation but that the performance of Mercedes this year shouldn’t be underestimated as he still sees overhauling Sergio Perez in the drivers’ championship as a realistic goal. The seven-time …

The seven-time world champion is out of contract at the end of the season and negotiations have been ongoing for a number of months, but he said there is no further news to share about it heading into this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. Although Mercedes has been unable to deliver a race-winning car this season so far, Hamilton says if it finishes second to Red Bull it will mark a significant result, and that he’s hoping to beat Perez to second in the drivers’ standings having previously named Fernando Alonso in third as his target.

“I think it’s a huge achievement, and something that I feel has been a little bit overlooked, if I’m really honest,” Hamilton said. “More focusing I guess — only because we want to win, I would say there hasn’t been the most positive narrative. But I’m really proud of the team, the progress and the steps we have taken with the car, from feeling like an almost identical car to last year, to making all the changes that we have.

“There are some small adjustments we are making moving forwards over these next couple of races. We have some small bits added to the car this weekend — every point of downforce, every little bit that we add makes a difference. So I’m super grateful to everyone back at the factory for continuing to push, even through the hard times, and just staying focused with the belief that we will get there at some point. Just to keep churning away the good work.

“For us to be second in the constructors’ championship, considering how others have started this year — like how McLaren are doing with their big turnaround, Aston who came out of the blocks really great — I think it’s pretty amazing. That’s down to all these amazing people back at the factory, and the crew that we have here.

“Also the driver’s doing not a bad job! And you know, my goal is to try and make sure the team keep that second place in the championship, and try and hunt down second in the drivers’ championship, that is my goal.”

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For all the team’s progress, Hamilton acknowledges there’s a good chance Red Bull will sweep the season given the form Max Verstappen is showing, as the Dutchman goes after his ninth straight victory at Zandvoort this weekend.

“There is a high chance that he’ll win every race. But, we’re hopeful that we can challenge them at some point, whether it’s this weekend or who knows where. And if there are any mistakes, any mishaps, we’ll be right there to try and capitalize on them. They don’t really make them, or he hasn’t made any, and the team hasn’t made any this year I think anyway. So yeah, they might win everything. Hopefully later on in the year, we’ll get closer maybe.”

One storyline that moved on over the summer break was Felipe Massa’s legal challenge against the 2008 drivers’ championship, but Hamilton declined to comment on that situation.

“I have a really bad memory, so I don’t really remember a lot, to be honest. I’m really just focused on the here and now and helping the team get back into the championship and the race. I’m not really focused on what happened 15 years ago.”

Racing on TV, August 25-27

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted. Friday, August 25 Zandvoort practice 1 6:25-7:30am Zandvoort practice 1 6:25-7:30am Zandvoort practice 2 9:55-11:00am Zandvoort practice 2 9:55-11:00am Daytona qualifying 4:00-4:30pm Daytona practice/ …

All times Eastern; live broadcasts unless noted.

Friday, August 25

	Zandvoort practice 1	6:25-7:30am
	Zandvoort practice 1	6:25-7:30am
	Zandvoort practice 2	9:55-11:00am
	Zandvoort practice 2	9:55-11:00am
	Daytona qualifying	4:00-4:30pm
	Daytona practice/ qualifying	5:00-6:30pm
	Daytona	7:00-7:30pm pre-race 7:30-1030pm race

Saturday, August 26

	Zandvoort practice 3	5:25-6:30am
	Zandvoort practice 3	5:25-6:30am
	Zandvoort qualifying	8:55- 10:00am
	Zandvoort qualifying	8:55- 10:00am
	WWTR practice 1	7:45-8:30pm
	VIR race 1	12:25- 1:10pm
	Crawfordsville	1:00pm
	WWTR	3:25-4:40pm
	VIR qualifying	3:40-4:00pm
	WWTR practice 2	9:00-10:45pm
	VIR	5:10- 7:10pm
	Daytona	7:00-7:30pm pre-race 7:30-11:00pm race

Sunday, August 27

	Dutch GP	7:30-8:55am pre-race 8:55-11:00am
	Dutch GP	7:30-8:55am pre-race 8:55-11:00am
	VIR race 2	8:55-9:40am
	Road America	10:00- 11:00pm (D)
	WWTR qualifying	11:00am- 12:00pm
	Milwaukee qualifying	11:30am- 1:00pm
	Milwaukee	1:00-3:00pm
	VIR	2:00-5:00pm
	Milwaukee	3:00-4:00pm pre-race 4:00-6:30pm race
	WWTR	3:30-5:30pm race 5:30-6:00pm post-race

Key: SDD: Same day delay; D = delayed; R = Repeat/Replay

A variety of motor racing is available for streaming on demand at the following sites:

MAVTV.com

MotorTrendOnDemand.com

SRO-america.com
SCCA.com
Ferrari Challenge
The Trans Am Series airs in 60-minute highlight shows in primetime on the MAVTV Network. For those wishing to tune in live, the entire lineup of SpeedTour events will stream for free on the SpeedTour TV YouTube page. SpeedTour TV will also air non-stop activity on Saturday and Sunday (SVRA, IGT and Trans Am). You can also watch all Trans Am event activity on the Trans Am YouTube page and Facebook page.
All NTT IndyCar Series stream live on Peacock Premium.

Ricciardo feeling ‘set to attack’ in second half of F1 season

Daniel Ricciardo says he is ready to attack the second part of the Formula 1 season after using the summer break to “feel the way I want to feel” following his recent return with AlphaTauri. Nyck de Vries was dropped after the British Grand Prix, …

Daniel Ricciardo says he is ready to attack the second part of the Formula 1 season after using the summer break to “feel the way I want to feel” following his recent return with AlphaTauri.

Nyck de Vries was dropped after the British Grand Prix, with Red Bull offering Ricciardo a route back onto the grid having taken up a reserve driver role after leaving McLaren. With the races in Hungary and Belgium under his belt before the summer shutdown, Ricciardo says he’s used the past few weeks to get himself into a position where he’s physically prepared for the rest of the year.

“I’m very excited about racing at Zandvoort, mainly to get the second half of the season going,” Ricciardo said. “I only got to do the two races before the break, so even if I enjoyed a bit of time off, I spent most of the past few weeks training and enjoying the chance to keep building up my fitness, to be all set to attack the second half of the season.

“I’ve really enjoyed being back, and the two races with the team have been awesome. Now, I’m very hungry and motivated and feel the way I want to feel. That’s why I’m looking forward to kicking off in Zandvoort, which is a very fast track with an awesome atmosphere.”

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While Ricciardo impressed upon his return, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda once again delivered an eye-catching result with points in the final race before the break, although the Japanese driver is wary of expecting a repeat in Zandvoort.

“I was happy with how the first part of the season ended in Belgium, as it had been a long time since we scored any points,” Tsunoda said. “It meant I could go into the summer break in a positive mood, and I’m carrying that motivation as we start the second half of the season this weekend.

“I also fitted in some time in the simulator earlier this week to prepare for the next two races. We’ve had two races in Zandvoort in the past, and I even made it to Q3 last year, but I’ve never finished, so that’s something I want to put right this weekend.

“I like the track because it’s technical with some unique features, such as the steeply banked corners and the mix of slow and fast turns. It’s physically quite demanding.

“I’m not sure how we will perform here because even if Spa went well, much of that was down to the specific nature of the track and even the weather, while Zandvoort is very different — a medium- to high-downforce circuit — but hopefully we can have another good race there. Because the track is very narrow, our main focus will be on qualifying well, which is something we have struggled with a bit so far this season.”