Red Bull Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar is set to miss this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort with a wrist injury.
It emerged on Wednesday morning that the 21-year-odl had picked up the injury ahead of the first race back from F1’s summer break — with sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, confirming to The Athletic that he was set to miss the weekend.
Red Bull is yet to make an announcement on the matter, but Hadjar’s absence would most likely open the door for Liam Lawson, who drives for the sister Racing Bulls team, to step in alongside Max Verstappen.
Lawson moving up would then allow for Yuki Tsunoda, who lost his Red Bull seat to Hadjar at the end of last year, to return to the grid by slotting in at Racing Bulls next to rookie Arvid Lindblad. Tsunoda serves as Red Bull’s reserve driver.
As recently as Monday, Hadjar was anticipated to be racing this weekend, with Red Bull promoting his special edition helmet for the final edition of the Dutch GP on social media.
The 21-year-old scored the only podium of his F1 career to date at Zandvoort last year during his rookie season, when he was driving for Racing Bulls.
The performance was the peak of Hadjar’s strong rookie season, which prompted Red Bull to promote him to its senior squad for 2026 alongside Verstappen in place of the struggling Tsunoda.
Tsunoda himself had got the nod at Red Bull in the early part of last year after the team axed Lawson just two races into the season due to his on-track struggles.
Lawson spent much of last year rebuilding his form before embarking on an solid campaign to date at Racing Bulls, where he has scored points in eight of the first 11 races, including best finishes of sixth in Canada and Great Britain.
Should Lawson get the call-up to drive for Red Bull this weekend, it would give him a chance to compete further up the order in a more competitive car and build on his impressive start to the year.
Importantly, a strong performance would also go some way to prove how much has changed for Lawson since his ill-fated two-race stint alongside Verstappen in early 2025.
