Daniel Ricciardo made a memorable return to the Dutch Grand Prix, where he cheekily acknowledged the turn that led to his hand injury last year.
Back at Zandvoort, Ricciardo faced Turn 3 with a cheeky salute, marking a humorous moment on his return.
Last season, this turn was the site of an accident with Australian rookie driver Oscar Piastri, resulting in a fracture that sidelined Ricciardo for five races.
Despite the setback, Ricciardo expressed his determination not to shy away from the challenge, stating he would ‘salute Turn 3, give it a little hello and crack on.’
During Friday’s practice, he executed his plan in true Ricciardo fashion, offering a one-finger salute to the notorious turn.
Reflecting on last year’s incident, Ricciardo admitted that the crash turned his year upside down.
‘Obviously last year it’s where my year turned upside down, but until the accident with Oscar, I was really enjoying the circuit, the car was great around there,’ he said.
In the practice sessions this year, Ricciardo has struggled more than expected, finishing 13th fastest, trailing behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell.
Ricciardo raises a finger to salute the turn where he crashed out last year, breaking his hand
It was a challenging day in practice for the Aussie in difficult conditions in the Netherlands
The practice day at Zandvoort presented challenges with wet conditions initially and gusty winds throughout.
Ricciardo experimented with all three tyre compounds: wets, intermediates, and slicks in a bid to find the right approach to the trick Dutch track.
‘It was a little bit everything,’ Ricciardo said of the day.
‘There’s a bit to find. We were just diving head first into the data a little bit and try and understand…
‘We struggled a little bit more than anticipated, especially on the medium versus the hard.
‘We kind of split tyres with Yuki and myself. He was quicker on the hard than I was on the medium.
‘And then on the soft managed to get in a bit of a better lap but still not quite there.
‘Hopefully we’ll find a few things tonight and then set up ourselves for tomorrow.’
British driver George Russell set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1:10.702, leading the field. Local favorite Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, found himself in fifth, trailing Russell by 0.284 seconds.
Piastri, who was also involved in last year’s incident with Ricciardo, continued his strong surge in form by finishing just behind Russell.
Lando Norris from McLaren also impressed, securing second place in the first practice session.