French driver Isack Hadjar needs additional recovery time for his injured wrist, meaning he is set to miss his third straight race during this weekend’s Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix held in Madrid.
Max Verstappen will once again be joined in the RB22 by Liam Lawson, while Yuki Tsunoda remains in his seat for another outing with Racing Bulls.
Red Bull announced on Monday evening that the choice was made because Isack’s healing process is moving along well, noting that while he cannot get back behind the wheel just yet, he will travel to Madrid to offer his support to the squad.
The second-year racer fractured his wrist during a boxing session—a staple of his training regimen—just as the summer break was winding down. This injury sidelined him from August’s Dutch Grand Prix, prompting Red Bull to promote Lawson from Racing Bulls to the primary squad next to Verstappen, which in turn opened up a spot for reserve driver Tsunoda to make his Formula 1 return with the sister team.
Unwilling to rush Hadjar’s rehabilitation, Red Bull kept the same lineup of Lawson and Tsunoda in place for the previous weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar
Credit: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
With very little time between events in this back-to-back schedule, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies had previously suggested that making a comeback at the newly designed Madrid track would prove difficult for Hadjar. This has now been validated, with confirmation that the young driver will indeed sit out a third consecutive grand prix.
Filling in for Hadjar, Lawson experienced a far smoother transition back into the Red Bull seat compared to his brief, interrupted run of two races early in 2025. The Kiwi secured a seventh-place finish at Zandvoort, though a grid penalty for an engine change prevented him from breaking into the points-paying positions at Monza.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda claimed his maiden point of the season by crossing the line in tenth in Italy, even as Audi contemplates appealing the stewards’ choice to spare the Japanese racer a penalty for triggering an additional formation lap.
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