The latest on Isack Hadjar’s injury recovery and next steps before F1 triple-header

Red Bull has provided an update on Isack Hadjar’s recovery and the next steps before he can return to Formula 1 action. 

21-year-old Hadjar has missed the last three consecutive F1 races with a wrist injury sustained while training during the summer break. 

The Frenchman was replaced by Liam Lawson, who usually drives for Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls, at the Dutch Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix. 

Lawson’s place at Racing Bulls was filled by Red Bull reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda at Zandvoort, Monza and Madrid. 

It remains to be seen whether Hadjar will be fit to return in time for next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which marks the start of a triple header of races. 

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies insisted after the Spanish Grand Prix that everything was going to plan with Hadjar’s recovery, and revealed the team had a simulator session planned before Baku. 

"There is nothing wrong with Isack's recovery. I think we have learned that it's fundamentally a normal time for the sort of injuries he has," Mekies said. 

“So, we will continue with the same approach and what we have. We will evaluate the situation in a week's time.

“We have a full week, a bit more than a full week, to evaluate situations, to see how he feels and then to put him on the simulator, to expose him to real-life constraints.

"And if he feels close to 100 per cent, we go for it. If he feels the recovery is not completed, we will stick to our approach to put his recovery first.

"What we don't want to do is, by having an early return, compromise his long-term capacity to come back to 100 per cent.”

Red Bull assesses Lawson’s stand-in performances 

Mekies praised the performance of Hadjar’s stand-in Lawson, who has done a respectable job alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen. 

The Kiwi, who was brutally demoted by Red Bull just two races into the 2025 season, scored points in his first race at Zandvoort, before finishing 14th at Monza after starting from the back of the grid due to taking a penalty for an engine change. 

Lawson qualified eighth in Madrid and went on to finish sixth, marking his best result since returning to the Red Bull senior team. 

"I think he's done a very good job," Mekies said. "I think we all know how difficult it is to jump to a different team, to a different car, and I think he has done that to the best of what could have been our expectations.

"He has taken some very important points [in Madrid] with the P6. He did the same in Zandvoort, and in Monza he would have done something similar without the contact with Nico [Hulkenberg] and the damage.

"So, I think he did a very good job. Again, very different pictures compared to the first races of 2025 when he was in the team, so we are thankful and happy with that.”

Mekies, who has worked with Lawson at both teams, added: "I think he has continued to grow as a driver. He’s very calm in the car; he's very focused.

"He's certainly making... I don't know if he makes an effort or not [to do it], but he's certainly managed to keep things simple in the way he tracks with the team and in the way he tackles his own performance and the car performance.

"So, he's focused on the essentials; he tries to get the basics right, and it's working for him. Of course, with more time in the car, you can then get to another degree of finesse, maybe.

"But I think that, of course, is very, very strong."