Ricciardo undergoes surgery and "metal work" on hand injury

Ricciardo has been sidelined by injury three rounds into his F1 return after crashing in second practice at Zandvoort.

The Australian locked the front wheels into the banked Turn 3 to shunt into the barrier. The steering wheel moved violently upon impact resulting in a broken metacarpal in his left hand.

With Red Bull reserve Liam Lawson deputising for Ricciardo, the current Japanese Super Formula runner-up progressed from 19th to 13th on his F1 debut, the Australian travelled to Barcelona for surgery.

Ricciardo has confirmed via social media that he underwent an operation on Sunday morning.

He posted on Instagram: "Hey everyone. 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."

It is understood that Ricciardo's treatment will involve working with Doctor Xavier Mir.

Mir operated on Lance Stroll following the cycling crash that ruled him out of pre-season testing in Bahrain. The Aston Martin driver contested the season opener a week later.

Ricciardo is highly likely to miss the Italian GP at Monza, where he won in 2021, this weekend.

AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost told Motorsport.com: "For me, it looks like Liam will do Monza because I don't think that Daniel will be ready to race in Monza.

"We will send [Lawson] to the sim this week to be prepared for Monza."

Liam Lawson, Scuderia AlphaTauri

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reckoned Ricciardo would have the Singapore GP (15-17 September) in mind for his return.

Horner told Sky Sports: "He's just taken a bunch of time off, just getting his mojo back, getting back into it and now he's on the bench again. That was, I think, his frustration.

"I think he felt that the car, they've started to make some progress and it's a shame for him.

"But I'm sure, at the back of his mind, he's probably got Singapore as a target. But then again, Singapore is probably one of the most tough circuits on the calendar.

"But nature will take its course."

He added: "It's quite a clean break and then, of course, it's all about the recuperation and how long that takes.

"Any normal human being would probably be about 10 to 12 weeks, but we know that these guys aren't normal.

"So, it will all be about the recovery process - how long that will take, is it going to be three weeks, a month, is it six weeks? Nobody really knows."