Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes Daniel Ricciardo, who is nursing a broken hand, is unlikely to return to the F1 grid before next month's Qatar Grand Prix.
Ricciardo sustained a fractured metacarpal when he crashed in Friday's second practice at Zandvoort, which ruled him out of the Dutch Grand Prix, the AlphaTauri charger undergoing surgery in Barcelona 48 hours after his mishap.
Although Ricciardo is on the mend and undergoing rehabilitation, Horner believes the 34-year-old won't be fully recovered in time for next week's Singapore Grand Prix or even the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka that will immediately follow.
"Certainly Singapore, I don't think there's any chance he'll be ready for then. I think it would be optimistic for Japan," Horner explained in Monza.
"But I think his recovery is going well, he's got obviously immobility of the hand and he's into rehabilitation now.
"We’ve seen with motorcyclists rushing comebacks can sometimes do more damage, so I think that we just want to make sure he's fully fit before he gets back in the car."
Ricciardo's pain has been Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson's gain as the young Kiwi was chosen to sub for the former. Lawson endured an incredibly difficult baptism of fire at Zandvoort amid the weekend's mixed conditions and onboard a car he had never driven before, even in its virtual form.
In Monza, running in the dry for the first time, the 21-year-old made it into Q2 and qualified just behind AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda, going on to finish his race 13th.
©AlphaTauri
So far, Horner has been impressed with the Red Bull protégé's performances.
"I think he did a solid job today," said the Briton. "I haven't followed his race that closely. They went for a two stop, which was unconventional on today's strategy.
"So, I'll have to have a look at the analysis after the race, but I think he's acquitted himself very well."
Singapore's tricky street circuit will provide Lawson with a big challenge, but Suzuka would be familiar territory for the Kiwi who raced a the Japanese venue last April in Super Formula.
"I should think he's pretty keen to be in the car in Suzuka, but we'll just take it on a day-by-day basis and see how the recovery and nature takes its course," Horner concluded.
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