Miracle men? 'Complicated' fracture means Ricciardo out for at least two races

Daniel Ricciardo's much-anticipated comeback to Formula 1 has taken an unexpected turn at the recent Dutch Grand Prix.

During the second practice session on Friday, the Australian lost control of his AlphaTauri, careening into the wall.

Moreover, just moments before, countryman Oscar Piastri put his McLaren into the same wall, and Ricciardo had a choice to make in the fleeting moments: hit Piastri or hit the wall.

"I remember coming into Turn 3. I had already gotten into the corner and then saw Piastri, so it was either hit him or the wall," the 34-year-old said.

"When I hit the wall, I didn't have enough time to take my hands off the steering wheel, so the wheel came and hit my hand."

Ricciardo, with a broken left hand, was withdrawn from the weekend's race and replaced at AlphaTauri by Red Bull's other reserve driver, Liam Lawson.

A nasty moment for our Aussie pair during FP2

Daniel Ricciardo is being checked at the local hospital after the collision#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RXdiSBLbtx

It's not looking good

After the incident, Ricciardo was flown out to Barcelona, Spain, with surgery following on Sunday morning - the day of the race. Though it was successful, the break was not clean, and the complicated nature of it means that the Aussie will miss at least the next two races.

Given the quick recovery time for athletes, especially F1 drivers, Ricciardo and AlphaTauri aimed for a comeback at the Singapore Grand Prix (15-17 September). However, Red Bull's motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, has put this into doubt.

READ | A broken hand and a return to the podium: 3 things we learned from the Dutch GP

"Unfortunately, the fracture is complicated. It's not a straightforward break," Marko said.

"In all likelihood, [he] will also