Hadjar sidelined as Lawson continues Red Bull journey
Isack Hadjar’s wait goes on. The French rookie will miss a third consecutive race, ruled out of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid as he continues to recover from a fractured wrist suffered in a routine boxing workout over the summer break.
Red Bull have turned again to the man who has quietly dragged himself back into the conversation.
Liam Lawson stays alongside Max Verstappen for a third straight outing, with Yuki Tsunoda retaining his seat at Racing Bulls.
Hadjar sidelined, but back in the paddock
Hadjar’s injury – a hairline fracture in a wrist bone – has already cost him the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix. Now Madrid joins the list.
Red Bull confirmed the call in a statement, stressing that the 20-year-old’s recovery is “progressing positively” but not quickly enough to risk a return to the cockpit. Hadjar will still travel to Madrid to support the team from the garage.
The message from Milton Keynes is clear: no rush, no gamble, but no loss of faith either. “Everyone at Red Bull Racing looks forward to welcoming Isack back behind the wheel very soon,” the team said.
Lawson’s second chance gathers pace
Lawson’s return to the senior team has already carried a different tone to his brief and bruising spell at the start of 2025.
At Zandvoort, he planted a marker. Just a tenth of a second shy of Verstappen in qualifying, then seventh at the flag in the Dutch Grand Prix – a composed, points-scoring drive that stood in stark contrast to his earlier, short-lived run with Red Bull before he was dropped.
Monza was messier, but it did little to dull the sense that Lawson is making the most of this unexpected window.
He exited in Q2 after being impeded by Oscar Piastri on his best lap. On Sunday, engine penalties dumped him into a pit-lane start. Contact with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in an early standing restart forced a front-wing change and left him fighting from the back again. He still climbed to 14th while Verstappen returned to the podium.
Not flawless, but certainly not anonymous. And now he gets Madrid.
Tsunoda steady as Audi circle
While the Red Bull seat has dominated the headlines, Tsunoda has quietly stitched together two solid weekends for Racing Bulls.
At Zandvoort, he finished just ahead of team-mate Arvid Lindblad. At Monza, he turned a scrappy race into a point, taking 10th and underlining his value in the midfield slog.
That result, though, may yet be dragged back into the stewards’ room. Audi are set to appeal over an incident at the standing restart, when Tsunoda lined up in the wrong grid slot, triggering an extra formation lap. The penalty picture could still shift.
For Tsunoda, every lap matters. The 26-year-old, cut loose by Red Bull last season, has made no secret of his aim: get back on the grid full-time in 2027.
“I’m free! Would love to hear those calls, but not yet,” he said before Monza, underlining that his eyes remain fixed on a Formula 1 return, even as he acknowledges how hard it is to secure a seat.
Madrid stage set
Hadjar watches on, Lawson clings to his opening, Tsunoda fights to stay relevant. Madrid, a new backdrop for the Spanish Grand Prix, now becomes another examination of who truly belongs in F1’s next wave – and who risks being left on the outside when the music stops.
