Daniel Ricciardo is OUT of the Dutch Grand Prix with a Broken Wrist after Smashing into a Barrier

Daniel Ricciardo's return to Formula One came to a juddering halt on Friday after he broke his wrist in an innocuous-looking crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Australian pranged his AlphaTauri at the steeply banked Turn Three and would have been fine other than for not releasing his grip from the steering wheel on impact with the wall. 'Ah, f***, my hand,' he exclaimed.

Ricciardo was taken to a local hospital, his left arm in a sling. An X-ray revealed a fractured metacarpal in his left hand. A team statement confirmed the 34-year-old would sit out Sunday's race. His place will be taken by New Zealander Liam Lawson, 21, a Red Bull reserve driver without a Formula One start to his name.

The accident is a cruel bump in the resumption of Ricciardo's career after just two races. An eight-time Grand Prix winner, he sat out the early part of the season after being dropped by McLaren at the end of last year, before being granted his dream comeback when Nyck de Vries was sacked by AlphaTauri ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix last month.

His smash appeared to come about after he was distracted by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, his countryman who had just hit the wall at the same point of the Zandvoort track.

Before the setback, Ricciardo had been thought of as a possible replacement for Max Verstappen's out-of-sorts team-mate Sergio Perez, but that prospect is now on hold.

As for Verstappen, the accusation leveled at him is the same as the one previously laid at Michael Schumacher's door: he's so good he's killing the sport.

Yet a few yards down the paddock, Lando Norris had no problems with the one-way road of success, insisting his pal should be recognized as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

The weight of numerical evidence for that assertion will be compounded in front of a partisan crowd of 105,000 if Verstappen claims a record-equalling ninth consecutive victory here tomorrow. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is expected to attend Max's court.

Yes, Verstappen is driving a superior Red Bull, the car that has won 22 of the last 23 races. Yawn. But, in a measure of his mastery on all days and in all conditions, his lead over Perez, in the same equipment, stands at 125 points. He could wrap up his third successive title as soon as in Japan on September 24, with six rounds remaining, and may yet win all the remaining races, let alone match Sebastian Vettel's mark, set in 2013.

McLaren's Norris, who pipped Verstappen to the top spot in practice, is not turned off by monotony, saying: 'I enjoy watching Max 100 percent. I can quite happily say I think he is one of the best drivers ever in Formula One. We should enjoy witnessing this. That's better than complaining because he's doing so well.'

Some rumour-mills would pair Verstappen, 25, and Norris, 23, together. That would be exciting though Norris is contracted to the end of next year and Verstappen is signed up to Red Bull until 2028, if he sticks around that long.

Could Norris compete against the one-man typhoon who has blown all previous teammates to shreds?

'I'm not going to say no, am I?' reasoned Norris. 'But you are not ever going to have someone in Formula One who can convincingly beat Max. He was born into this. He had a dad who knew F1 (Schumacher's former Benetton team-mate Jos). Mine was the opposite. I started for fun. I'm playing catch-up of about four years.'
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