Ricciardo explains: 'It was either crash with Piastri, or into the wall'

Daniel Ricciardo will be sidelined this weekend at least. After an unfortunate moment in the second free practice, the Australian broke his metacarpal. Liam Lawson will take his place this weekend, making his Formula 1 debut. Ricciardo briefly looks back on the fateful moment, while also wishing his replacement the best of luck.

After Oscar Piastri parked his McLaren in the tyre piles at Hugenholtzbocht, Daniel Ricciardo did the same a few seconds later. Piastri got out unscathed, but Ricciardo immediately revealed that his hand was bothered. The Australian discovered in hospital that his metacarpal was broken, which means he will not race at Zandvoort. He regretted that, as Ricciardo's feeling was good: "I was very excited to be back after the break. The day was going pretty well. We made some changes for FP2 and the few laps I did on the hard tyre before the crash felt good; we were building up and improving. At that time, we were pretty competitive, and I was feeling positive."

In the small bowl corner, however, things went wrong for Ricciardo:"I remember coming into Turn 3. I had already gotten into the corner and then saw Piastri, so it was either hit him or the wall. When I hit the wall, I didn’t have enough time to take my hands off the steering wheel, so the wheel came and hit my hand." The AlphaTauri driver balks immensely and will work hard to make a speedy recovery.

Due to Ricciardo's bad luck, another driver from Oceania will make his Formula 1 debut this weekend. Liam Lawson will take Ricciardo's place and will receive good luck wishes from the unlucky driver: "I wish the team well, and I’m sorry for the change in plans again. It’s a chance for Liam to have a go, and I wish him and the team a strong weekend."