ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Daniel Ricciardo underwent successful surgery on Sunday morning in an attempt to expedite his recovery from a broken bone in his left hand.
Ricciardo, who returned to the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, broke a metacarpal when he crashed his AlphaTauri during Friday's second practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix.
He travelled to Spain on Saturday to see Dr. Javier Mir, the same specialist who helped Lance Stroll recover from a broken wrist at the start of the season.
In a post Sunday on Instagram, the Australian said: "Had surgery this morning, got my first bit of metal work so that's pretty cool. Big thanks to everyone who reached out and kept my spirits up. This ain't a setback, just all part of the comeback".
Speaking after Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, in which reserve driver Liam Lawson substituted for Ricciardo at AlphaTauri, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the surgery was a success.
"He had an operation earlier today," Horner explained. "He's had several screws and a plate fitted to his [hand]. It went well, it was successful.
"The bone was broken in multiple places, but it was a fairly straightforward procedure. So now it's all about recovery.
"We'll see, for a normal human being that would be a couple of months. For a grand prix driver it's often much shorter."
Asked when Ricciardo would be back in the car, Horner could only rule out a return at next weekend's Italian Grand Prix.
"He needs to see how that recovery process goes, but certainly not Italy."
