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Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed that he will return to racing for AlphaTauri at this weekend's United States Grand Prix, ending a five-race absence due to a fractured hand.
Ricciardo began the season as a reserve driver for Red Bull before taking over for Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. However, he missed the last five races due to a hand injury sustained in Zandvoort. The 2023 United States Grand Prix will take place at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin on Sunday. After crashing into the barrier during the second practice session of the Dutch Grand Prix in August, the Australian sustained a broken metacarpal in his left hand, necessitating emergency surgery. Ricciardo has been working his way back to full fitness by doing laps in the Red Bull simulator, and he also got back behind the wheel of an F1 car earlier this week in Nashville, Tennessee, in front of 30,000 fans. "It's good to be back. 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," Ricciardo was quoted as saying by Formula 1. "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," he added. "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," the AlphaTauri driver said. AlphaTauri introduced a few changes to their AT04 during his absence, and while Ricciardo said he has a feel for the new car in the simulator, he is looking forward to going back out on track at the "unique" Circuit of The Americas. "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. 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," Ricciardo said. "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," he added. "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," the AlphaTauri driver said. (ANI)
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