“Sometimes, you just don't have the luxury of time”: Daniel Ricciardo dissects the Zandvoort crash that caused his hand injury

In a recent episode of the Beyond The Grid podcast, Daniel Ricciardo discussed his Zandvoort crash that resulted in a gruesome hand injury.

After sitting out for almost the first half of the season, Ricciardo was back at the helm of an F1 vehicle as AlphaTauri's replacement for Nyck de Vries. However, only two races following his return, the 34-year-old was left nursing a broken hand after being involved in a crash during the Dutch GP's FP1 session. He was ruled out for five races, not making his return before the US Grand Prix in Austin.

Daniel Ricciardo recently delved into the details of his crash at the Zandvoort circuit and the injury that followed. Describing the event, he said:

"I can obviously remember it very clearly because I didn't hit my head. So you come through Turn 2, and it's over a crest. But then you stay quite tight. So you're not taking a conventional racing line.

"At that point I had exited too. I hadn't seen any yellows, nothing like that. And then by the time I had looked ahead and breaked, I then looked where I needed to turn, and I see Oscar."

As he noticed the McLaren rookie, Ricciardo found himself in a dilemma. He recounted weighing his options: either crash into Oscar Piastri or attempt to slow down and hit the barriers.

Ricciardo continued:

"I guess I was still trying to figure out what I'm gonna do by the time I had committed to going straight. I hadn't then realised 'okay, take your hands off the wheel.'

"A lot of us still don't do it. Because crashing isn't natural and it happens so quickly cuz you don't plan to crash. Sometimes you just don't have the luxury of time."

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Daniel Ricciardo explains his rehabilitation process following the Dutch GP crash

Daniel Ricciardo missed out on five weekends of racing action following his crash during the practice session in Zandvoort. What followed was an extensive period of recovery.

Dwelling into the rehabilitation process, the Australian revealed:

"I was doing physio everyday. I was doing what I could to come back as soon as possible."

Questions arose about Daniel Ricciardo's potential return around the Qatar GP. However, the former Red Bull man was not deemed to be at his best during the weekend in Doha. He revealed:

"Qatar was talked about. I went on the Sim on the week of Qatar. But I couldn't yet drive with the full force of the steering. I just couldn't grip it.

"So it was at that point we're like, let's just go all in for Austin and make sure I'm good for that."

Ricciardo made his return during the US Grand Prix weekend, finishing 15th in the race in Austin.