AlphaTauri: Until Ricciardo is fully fit, Lawson will continue to drive

Ricciardo had surgery in Spain on Sunday after breaking his left hand in a crash in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix on Friday, with reserve driver Lawson drafted in for his Formula One race debut.

The next race, round 14, is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Sunday. Singapore follows on Sept. 17 and Japan on Sept. 24.

"We are delighted that Daniel’s surgery went well and that he is now on the road to recovery," AlphaTauri said in a statement.

"We hope to see him at the track again very soon, but until he is fully fit, we can confirm that Liam, who did a good job in difficult circumstances in Zandvoort, will continue to drive alongside Yuki (Tsunoda), starting from our home race this weekend in Monza."

Lawson, 21, who was competing in the Japanese Super Formula for team Mugen, finished 13th in the Dutch Grand Prix, with Tsunoda 16th.

Lawson said after the race: "The aim was to do all 72 laps today [Sunday]. When I first got on the grid and it started raining, it wasn’t the best feeling.

"After that, we had no choice but to make the pitstop but unfortunately, we got a penalty and lost a huge amount of time during it. I think once we got clean air during the second half of the race and then driving on the intermediate tyres at the end, my pace wasn’t so bad.

"There’s some work to do, but I’m just happy to have gotten through the race, experiencing different conditions and scenarios, to be able to take them forward," the Kiwi concluded.

(

Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional reporting by GrandPrix247

)