Daniel Ricciardo on his Zandvoort crash, surgery on his broken hand, recovery process, and return in Austin
Tom Clarkson: "Now you mentioned the elephant in the room, Zandvoort. FP2, Turn 3, what happened?"
Daniel Ricciardo: "I *awkward laugh*, I mean I obviously can remember it very clearly, since I didn't hit my head. Erm, but, so you come through, turn, I guess it's Turn 2, and it's over kind of a crest, but then you stay quite tight, because, then the line for 3, you ride the top of the banking. So you know, you're not taking a conventional racing line, so you're not like looking at the apex, you're looking at the top of the corner, pretty much. Like, as a driver, we're always looking ahead and normally like at the apex, but the way you exit 2, you then kind of look straight ahead and pick your braking point."
DR: "So at that point, I'd exited 2, I hadn't seen any yellows, nothing like that. And then by the time I've looked and braked, I then looked where I need to turn, and I see Oscar. This all happened so quickly, but I remember, I can, obviously I'm picturing it in my head now. So I remember, okay, the line we take is high and by this point I'd braked, so I'd already committed, so I knew the speed I was going. My only choice was to take the high line, but I could see his car was at the top of the track. So there wasn't enough room for me to pass through the high line. I'm going too fast to take a low line, so it was either, probably look like a real idiot and crash into him, or try and just slow the car as much as I can, and likely just crash into the barriers, which is what happened."
DR: "But yeah, because it was all, I guess I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do, by the time then I'd committed to just going straight, I hadn't then realized, 'okay, take your hands off the wheel.' And a lot of us still don't do it, because crashing is not natural. And it happens so quickly, because you don't plan to crash, so a lot of the time you don't kind of have, yeah, the time to be like, 'okay, I'm crashing, what do I need to do? Brace myself, okay, take my hands off the wheel.' Sometimes you just don't have the luxury of time."
DR: "So, that was it, I hit the wall. I've only watched one replay, but I just don't, I don't want to. Basically, when I've gone in, I'm pretty sure like the right front, it's just the angle, right, the right front would've grabbed the Tecpro [barrier] first, and then that's, like, pulled it in, so it's, it's like I've turned really hard right, the way obviously it's grabbed the wheel. So because the wheels then turned so quickly, I've basically lost grip, so it spun out of my hands, and the bottom of the [steering] wheel, which is pure, hard carbon, has then come up and basically karate chopped my hand."
DR: "So then, you've got the shock of the crash and then adrenaline, so I've come on the radio, and I'd, I think I'd been like, oh sorry, like I've crashed or something. And then, is he like 'oh, you alright?' or 'can you continue?' and I was like, 'no, the car is damaged.' And then, I could feel my hand, and I was like, 'ow, my hand, my hand.' And then I just, it started to, like the pain just went, obviously ramped up really, really quickly, and I feared that something was bad. So, as I'm, I wanted, I was like, 'I need to get my glove off, I need to get my glove off.' And as I'm pulling my glove off, I remember, I was thinking, *awkward huffy laugh*, I was like 'if there's a bone through the skin, I'm gonna pass out.' So that's all, I was just like 'please, please don't let me see anything gruesome.' I'm not good with this stuff, I'm sweating telling it, like I'm serious. I suck at this.
TC: "Have you broken a bone before?"
DR: "I broke my arm as a kid at school, throwing a tennis ball. Anyway, yeah, another very random accident, and I didn't need surgery, that was like a long, long healing process."
DR: "But yeah, so, alright, so I've pulled my glove off, and I, I could see it was already quite swollen, but no bone through the skin. I was like, 'okay.' But then the pain just got so bad, so as soon as I jumped into the medical car, I was *long pause* making a lot of noises, because I was in a lot of discomfort. So I knew that it was not good. I knew immediately, obviously, I wasn't going to race on the weekend. Like I didn't need a doctor to tell me. I feared it was a broken bone. I think the first thing that really kind of just made me sad, was I just had a very, very productive summer break. I felt really, really good physically, and I was just, yeah I was just ready to go. And this just felt like an unfortunate setback. But I was just more worried about surgery and all that, because I'm, again, I'm a bit of a wuss.
TC: "What happened next, I mean, you went down to Barcelona, to Dr. Xavier Mir, who is renowned in the MotoGP world, for mending those sort of breaks. I also think he was, didn't he help Lance Stroll earlier in the year as well?" "Yeah" "So who put you in touch with him, or did you know him already?"
DR: "So from the medical center, we went to the hospital there in Amsterdam. Got scans, and they're like, 'yeah, it's broken.' And by this point, it's the size, like, looked like an elephant stepped on my hand. The doctor there said, 'look, I would recommend surgery.' He's like, 'you can have it here, but you probably want to wait anyway a few days for the swelling to go down. Speak to whoever you need to speak to and obviously you can have your surgery wherever you want, I'm just going to give you my advice.' So then we reached out to Lance, we reached out to, well Jose, a friend of ours who works with Alpinestars, so he knows all the MotoGP guys, and he, he's Spanish as well, so he knows. So he, I think, put us into touch with Xavier Mir, and then, yeah, Lance was like 'go to him' as well. All signs were just pointing to, this guy's done this too many times, just go see him. Like, like don't even bother, just go there.
DR: "So it was, it was a blessing and a curse because, *laughs* he does a lot of MotoGP guys, who, are not human. They are not. It's fact, they are not. So, I think there's an expectation of me going in there, he's like 'oh, F1, MotoGP, same! Not human, don't feel pain.' 'No, doctor, I feel pain. I'm going to cry for the next 48 hours whilst I'm in this hospital.' So it was just funny, they, I think, you know, all the doctors and nurses and that who were helping me, and they were great, but I think they were, they were just quite, they would laugh a lot, because I would wince and pull away and ask questions every needle that went into my arm. Erm, so I think they just thought I would be tough like a MotoGP rider, but I am not."
TC: "I'm sure you were."
DR: "No, no, trust me, I'm not. The break itself was quite significant. It was a shatter, like it wasn't like, oh you just break it clean down the middle. I think it was in eight pieces or something. So it was also, for a bone that can be quite a simple one, it wasn't too pretty."
TC: "So it's your pinky that was being affected by it?" "Erm, well..." "On your left hand?"
DR: "It's like the outside of the hand. So that's the bone I broke, in between like the wrist and the pinky, like that knuckle. So like along the outside there. But even me just rubbing my finger over the top of my hand, hurt like crazy. Maybe I just feel pain more than others, I don't know. *laughs* But er, sorry, I just want to, just let's also say one thing. There was also the reality where, yes, I would moan and complain because I don't like the pain. But it was a broken hand, so there was also a part of me which was like, 'look, dude, yes you're in pain and it's going to be a bit of a process, but people have worse injuries, people have bigger accidents.' So don't get me wrong, I also tried to reality check myself through it all, and I think that's what made me quite, like remain quite positive."
TC: "You missed five races, you came back for Austin. Was there any talk of you getting back earlier, maybe for Qatar?"
DR: "So I knew, I was doing physio every day, and I was, I was doing what I could to come back as soon as possible. But I also wanted to make sure, and I think, you know, Red Bull/Alpha Tauri were really good with this, I wasn't fighting for a world championship, like it's not like, dude you need to just drive through immense pain and just get a point, you know because this is your titles on the line. Like it was, let's make sure you do this and heal properly, and get the right treatment, because also you've got, hopefully a second part of your career which is going to be long and glorious. So it was just, don't compromise anything that you then have a bum hand for the next two years of your career, three years, whatever. So it was good, I could just do it properly."
DR: "Qatar was talked about, I went on the sim the week of Qatar, on the Monday, but I couldn't, er, yet, drive with the full force of the steering, like so we would like bring the feedback down. Er, I just couldn't grip it and do more than like two laps at full strength. So it was very clear that Qatar was out of the question, and also for me to come back and like, yeah, I don't know, not drive at my best and then, no, that no one benefits. I don't benefit, the team doesn't. So er, it was that, at that point we're like, let's just go all in for Austin and make sure I'm good for that."
TC: "And Liam was doing a decent job as well"
DR: "Exactly, he was doing well and there was also, I think Red Bull were great to give me a contract whilst I was injured, to give me a contract for next year. So I, I had that-"
TC: "That was very significant, wasn't it?" "Yeah" "They actually signed you long-term when you were on the sidelines?"
DR: "Yeah, there's so much about being back in the Red Bull family this year that's felt good and right, and I think that was such a, yeah just such like a big thing for them to do that. I think obviously it showed they have a lot of faith in me. It also put to bed if anyone was like, 'oh you know, is there still any issues from their previous relationship years ago? Like is there any carryover tension or whatever?' Like, for them to do that, I think it was very much like, he's our kid and we're going to support him because we believe in him and- So that was really nice."
TC: "So you come back for Austin, and were there any ill effects there? Because I mean, that's a quick track, sector one in particular."
DR: "Er, no, like in, in short no. Erm, I think the race, I got into it quickly and, and, and I was actually honestly expecting more pain in Austin. I was expecting like every kind of bump or kerb I'd hit would be like 'ow, ow, ow.' But it was okay, and erm, I think it was just an endurance I needed to build so like, towards the end of the race, I could feel like my grip strength was maybe not as good as at the start of the race. But honestly, I was, I was fine. And I think that was another thing, I didn't want to get back into a race and then be like, 'yeah I could have done better, but you know, my hand was not up to full strength.' Or like, I was like, this can't be an excuse, and it wasn't, so it was all good."
TC: "And Daniel, you were never going to miss Austin, right?"
DR: "No, I couldn't. I would've loved the result to be better, but no, I couldn't miss Austin.
TC: "The track, the place"
DR: "Yeah, yeah. I love it."
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The thing is. I think Aziraphales motivation changed as soon as Crowley said "no," or at the very least when the Metatron(?) started talking about the second coming.
Like. We visibly see Aziraphale scrapping himself together enough to mask how he was feeling once Meta came back in, we see the "Just so polite and happy to be here" facade click into place.
His talk about Crowley being an angel again, being happy, that was 100% driven from pure emotion, he had just gotten the offer and the deal that he could bring Crowley with him and he's too ecstatic to think about the implications. To him this is the best of both worlds, he can have heaven and he can have Crowley.
But then Crowley tells him no, and he gets reality checked a bit. He's still trying to convince him to go, trying to hang on to the fantasy, but as Crowley talks more he's remembering why they've had to hide for so long. Why they couldn't be together in the open. He's remembering the eggshells he had to tread around the others in heaven for 6,000 years. He's in denial, yes, but also I think being cut out from heaven for four years made him forget the politics a bit, leaving a more idealized version of it in his head. He's no longer reporting his good deeds to heaven, only to Crowley. I think even with him being distinctly seperate from other angels, I think he missed talking to others in heaven.
I'm..not actually sure what replaces his motivations after Meta comes back, but it's no longer for Crowley, or even for solely "fixing" what went wrong specifically, though that's definitely a part of it. I think the need to *know* what's happening after being cut off has something to do with it. With the cut off, he was no longer able to go in and ask what heaven was doing or why they were doing it. I think he knew something big was coming, or at least had the knowledge that something *could* be coming, and it scared him that he couldn't find out what. It must've been on the back of his mind the whole time, only somewhat pushed away with the offer Meta gives him. He still thinks heaven is "good" but that doesn't mean he thinks they always act in the best interest of earth, a point I think we've clearly seen in the last season.
He asks Meta about the second coming, but he's using the "mask" voice, which I think you can only tell it's a mask in this scene alone, after hearing him speak so raw to Crowley back in the shop. He's playing dumb to get information, something he's done multiple times before, the only difference was the audience was able to see that he was doing it, and now we can't (because from our point of view he was doing it badly).
He's acting carefully, not trying to turn too much when he's looking at Crowley, doesn't want to give himself away too much. Because whatever he's going into now he's doing it to protect him. He's steeling himself, keeping his face neutral as he goes forward. Whatever's coming he needs to know what it is, and if that means being in control of it then so be it, maybe he could curb it if he were at the helm.
Aziraphale doesn't react to Metas comment about Crowley "always asking damn fooled questions." When Crowley was an angel, Aziraphale was *visibly* frightened for him when he was talking about putting in suggestions, looking around to make sure no one overheard him. Crowleys comment about Job was "but to at least be able to ask the question."
Aziraphale is at least somewhat aware that the questions were the reason Crowley fell. And he also fundamentally thinks of Crowley as a good person, that's why he wants him back in heaven. He didn't think of the questions as a problem, but knew that someone else would, lest they overheard him. But he *doesn't* react to Meta's comment. Because he knows he needs to tread carefully right now, no matter what he personally thinks. There's only one other point where he doesn't react to something that he really should've, and that's when Crowley spoke about living in his car. The camera even panes to him but there's no reaction.
Both of those things touch very close to his real thoughts, and there's too many people (angels) there to speak freely. The *only* time we see Aziraphale express his emotions clearly is to Crowley, when there was no one else in the room. And that's even with 6000 years of keeping his walls up even around him, it only happened because he was afraid of losing him.
To keep himself safe he's closed off his real thoughts and emotions, keeping them in so tightly that he's physically incapable of unlocking them consciously. Crowleys the only one that's seen any authentic version of himself, any version with free joy and inhibition. Crowley has been the one to encourage that side of him, whether it was food, his magic act, or just existing in the same space as it without judgement like his bookshop. He's the *only* person that would be able to know Aziraphales true self, and even he's locked out.
Crowley is the only person that can shatter the act completely, to leave Aziraphale almost physically having to put it back together before he gets hurt. When Meta comes in he has to act like nothing happened for his own safety. We've always been able to see Aziraphales motivation, because we've seen the juxtaposition of himself on Earth (with Crowley), versus with heaven. Now that he's chosen heaven both the Audience and Crowley are cut off from seeing his thought process. We're no longer in on it.
In conclusion (?) I think it's going to be a lot harder in season three to guess what Aziraphales doing/thinking, because now we're not in on the act. We're the onlookers. I think the climax for the next season is to see that persona properly shatter, probably in front of everyone, or at least in front of Crowley before they can move to make amends.
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