Daniel Ricciardo said he was going to ‘salute’ the corner where he crashed and fractured a bone in his hand last season, and onboard footage showed he kept his word.
Ricciardo was only two races into his Formula 1 comeback when, in second practice at the last edition of the Dutch Grand Prix, a seemingly innocuous crash at the banked Hugenholz corner (Turn 3) saw him break a metacarpal in his left hand, ruling him out of the next five rounds as Liam Lawson deputised.
Daniel Ricciardo ‘salutes’ crash location upon Dutch Grand Prix return
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
Ricciardo said ahead of the weekend that, while he harbours no worries upon his return to the Netherlands, he would at least acknowledge the corner where his comeback came to an abrupt halt last season.
He was able to return for the final portion of the 2023 season, being awarded a full year’s contract for VCARB for 2024 on the strength of his performances.
“Look, I’ve thought about it – I’m not going to shy away from that,” Ricciardo admitted to media including PlanetF1.com at Zandvoort when asked about his crash last year.
Daniel respecting THAT corner 🫡🩻 pic.twitter.com/OcdF7iaejT
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 23, 2024
“But, yeah, I’ll get in the car, I’ll salute Turn 3, give it a little hello and crack on.
“You know, I was in the sim a few days ago, and honestly, even just that, driving around, I was like, ‘Alright, I felt better.’
“I’m not going to overplay it, like it’s some ‘demons’, you know, [or] ‘Oh my gosh, I’m scared to drive here’ – not at all, but I’ll acknowledge it, and then crack on.”
“You know, I was in the sim a few days ago, and honestly, even just that, driving around, I was like, ‘Alright, I felt better.’
“I’m not going to overplay it, like it’s some ‘demons’, you know, [or] ‘Oh my gosh, I’m scared to drive here’ – not at all, but I’ll acknowledge it, and then crack on.”
A wet first session saw running interrupted for most of the teams, Ricciardo managing 15 laps on his way to 19th place in FP1, before improving to 13th place in FP2 as the Circuit Zandvoort dried out for more representative running for the rest of the afternoon.