- He crashed with fellow Australian Oscar Piastri in 2023
- He missed five races recovering from his injuries.
- I had a hilarious response upon returning to the crime scene.
Daniel Ricciardo made a memorable return to the Dutch Grand Prix, where he playfully acknowledged the spin that led to his hand injury last year.
Back at Zandvoort, Ricciardo approached Turn 3 with a cheeky wave, marking a humorous moment on his return.
Last season, this corner was the scene of an accident involving Australian rookie driver Oscar Piastri, resulting in a fracture that kept Ricciardo out of the race for five races.
Despite the setback, Ricciardo expressed his determination not to shy away from the challenge, stating he would “wave at Turn 3, give it a little wave and carry on.”
During Friday practice, he executed his plan in true Ricciardo style, giving the famous turn a one-finger salute.
Reflecting on last year’s incident, Ricciardo admitted that the accident changed his year completely.
“Obviously last year was when my year turned upside down, but until the accident with Oscar I was really enjoying the circuit, the car was great there,” he said.
In this year’s practice sessions, Ricciardo has struggled more than expected, finishing 13th fastest, behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell.
Ricciardo raises a finger to salute the corner where he crashed last year and broke his hand
It was a challenging day of testing for the Australian in difficult conditions in the Netherlands.
The practice day at Zandvoort presented challenges with initially wet conditions and gusty winds throughout the course.
Ricciardo experimented with all three tyre compounds – wet, intermediate and slick – in an attempt to find the right approach for the tricky Dutch track.
“It was a bit of everything,” Ricciardo said of that day.
“There is still much to discover. We are diving deep into the data to try to understand it…”
‘We had a bit more difficulties than expected, especially in the medium versus the hard.
“Yuki and I shared the tyres. He was faster on the hards than I was on the mediums.
‘And then on the soft tyres I managed to do a slightly better lap, but it still wasn’t quite right.
“We hope to figure some things out tonight and then get ready for tomorrow.”
British driver George Russell set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1:10.702, leading the race. Local favourite Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, was fifth, 0.284 seconds behind Russell.
Piastri, who was also involved in last year’s incident with Ricciardo, continued his strong rise in form by finishing just behind Russell.
McLaren’s Lando Norris also impressed, taking second place in the first practice session.