Ricciardo could have operation on Sunday: 'Goal is to return in Singapore'

Daniel Ricciardo is not currently fit to drive his AlphaTauri, but Christian Horner thinks the Singapore Grand Prix could be a realistic date for his return. The Red Bull Racing team boss reveals this to Sky Sports.

Earlier, AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost indicated that surgery was a possibility. Horner confirmed that the Australian will go under the knife and hinted at his possible return date.

"He's headed off today to Barcelona. They may even have a little operation on him tomorrow to tidy up where that break is, it's quite a clean break.Then of course it's all about the recuperation and how long that takes. Any normal human being would be 10-12 weeks but we know that these guys aren't normal," Horner said at Zandvoort on Saturday.

He continued: "So it will all be about the recovery process - is it going to be three weeks? Will it be a month? Is it six weeks? Nobody really knows." Ricciardo will not make it to the Italian Grand Prix as it is only a week after Zandvoort on the calendar. However, there are two weeks between the F1 race in Monza and the one in Singapore on 17 September.

"I'm sure at the back of his mind he's got Singapore as a target. But, then again, Singapore is probably one of the toughest circuits on the calendar. So nature will take its course," the Red Bull team boss said.