Daniel Ricciardo says he feels much better as he will make his racing return this weekend in F1 US GP after the recent Red Bull showrun.
AlphaTauri has confirmed a return for Ricciardo this weekend in F1 US GP. The Australian tried to compete in Qatar GP after a simulator session but was advised against it. He waited out a couple of weeks before making his showrun return with Red Bull.
He drove the RB7 in Nashville and felt good even though it wasn’t at racing speed. But he will get into the groove this weekend. He won’t get much time considering it is a sprint weekend with just the one session to get back into the competitive mode.
“It’s good to be back,” said Ricciardo. “My hand is much better, and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it. I tried it out in the week before Qatar, but I didn’t feel it was at full potential, so I spent the rest of that week in the UK, spending more time in the sim, and got to a point where I felt ready to go.
“My overall fitness is fine as I kept training as much as I could, although I obviously couldn’t do much with my left hand or arm for a while. It was definitely frustrating watching the past few races, especially as I’d gotten myself to a place where I was so ready to go again and race, and then I did two events and had to hit “Pause” again, but actually, the time without racing went quite quickly,” summed up Ricciardo.
He is looking forward to driving an updated AlphaTauri car which launched several updates in Singapore. He was at hand to learn more about them and also drove it in the simulator. He will now get the first taste of it in a competitive run to eke out its potential.
“The current car has moved on a bit since I last drove it, but the sim was useful to get an idea of what the changes and updates have delivered,” said Ricciardo. “I felt a little bit of their effect, but it’s one of those things I think, once I get on track, I’ll feel them to their full effect. I was there in Singapore when they tried it the first time, and it was interesting to hear the feedback and comments, which were mostly positive.
“So, I’m excited to see what it’s like first-hand. As for this weekend, I’ve always enjoyed Austin. It’s very unique for a modern-day circuit, and the undulations and bumps mean it’s physical. It does beat you up, but I think I like that. I like the challenge. A lot of the apexes are quite wide as well, so there are some peculiar corners which make the track exceptional and stand out,” summed up Ricciardo.
Here’s AlphaTauri on selecting an experienced pair
Here’s Daniel Ricciardo returning to F1 action
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
