{"id":2822,"date":"2023-10-18T15:31:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T19:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/daniel-ricciardo-says-its-good-to-be-back-ahead-of-u-s-gp-return\/18\/10\/2023\/"},"modified":"2023-10-18T15:31:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T19:31:01","slug":"daniel-ricciardo-says-its-good-to-be-back-ahead-of-u-s-gp-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/daniel-ricciardo-says-its-good-to-be-back-ahead-of-u-s-gp-return\/18\/10\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Ricciardo says it’s ‘good to be back’ ahead of U.S. GP return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Daniel Ricciardo will be back on track at this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin after missing five races with a broken hand, the Australian Formula One driver confirmed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Ricciardo suffered the injury in Dutch Grand Prix practice in August and was replaced at AlphaTauri by New Zealander Liam Lawson.<\/p>\n

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“It’s good to be back. My hand is much better, and the simulator was a useful way of assessing it,” he said in a team preview.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

This weekend’s race will be run to a sprint format, with a 100km race on Saturday and main event on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri are last in the constructors’ standings but Lawson took their highest placing so far in 2023 with ninth in Singapore last month.<\/p>\n

Ricciardo joined the team in July as replacement for departed Dutch driver Nyck de Vries and has already been confirmed for 2024.<\/p>\n

“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,” said Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

“But actually, the time without racing went quite quickly. 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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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Daniel Ricciardo will be back on track at this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin after missing five races with a broken