The eight-time F1 race winner will return to the cockpit on this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after a five-round spell on the side-lines following his free follow crash at Zandvoort in late August.
Ricciardo was identified with a damaged metacarpal in his left hand.
He flew to Barcelona for rapid surgical procedure with MotoGP harm specialist Physician Xavier Mir, who additionally helped Lance Stroll’s return after the Aston Martin driver broke bones in each his wrists throughout a biking incident previous to pre-season testing.
A comeback for the Qatar GP for Ricciardo had been anticipated by the Purple Bull steady however that has been in the end delayed by a fortnight, along with his operation revealing the harm to be worse than first thought.
Assessing his restoration, Ricciardo defined: “ Properly, I might say, more durable than I believed. However I am most likely a little bit of a wuss as nicely. So perhaps not more durable than I believed!
“However I believe it was actually simply when the accident occurred, and we had been conscious of what bone broke, they appeared pretty OK with that bone, by way of ‘Oh yeah, it is a comparatively straightforward one to repair’.
“However then, after we received the surgical procedure carried out in Spain, we received additional checks carried out and it was simply the break was quite a bit worse than it first appeared.
“So, I believe that is what took quite a bit longer for the restoration, and possibly made it a little bit extra painful for myself.”
Photograph by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
Liam Lawson, AlphaTauri AT04
Whereas Ricciardo was dominated out, Purple Bull reserve Liam Lawson was promoted to the AlphaTauri seat.
The Kiwi bagged two factors for ninth place in Singapore, when the group debuted a serious improve package deal that featured a revised flooring and diffuser, new sidepods and engine cowl plus revised rear suspension.
As such, Ricciardo – who returned to the paddock for the primary time in Singapore – expects a stronger AT04 for what would be the third spherical of his F1 comeback after he was paid to depart McLaren for this season.
Ricciardo continued: “I went out to Singapore the place that they had some fairly massive updates.
“That was really a reasonably Positive weekend for the group. In order that appeared good. The drivers [Yuki Tsunoda and Lawson] had been saying that they might really feel some good variations.
“So, I am anticipating a automobile that could be a little stronger than the place I left it. However I imply, it should be the third race I’ve carried out this yr, so I am nonetheless very inexperienced for this season.
“However in saying that, I’m not utilizing that as an excuse, however every part type of nonetheless feels new to me.”