Hadjar Misses Spanish Grand Prix as Lawson Secures Red Bull Seat
Isack Hadjar’s wait for a full-time Red Bull debut goes on. The Frenchman 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.
His absence keeps the door open for Liam Lawson, who stays alongside Max Verstappen for a third straight outing, with Yuki Tsunoda again leading the line at Racing Bulls.
Boxing blow, long fallout
Hadjar’s season was knocked off course not in a crash, but in a gym. A routine boxing workout during the summer break caused a hairline fracture in a bone in his wrist, enough to sideline him from Zandvoort, Monza and now Madrid.
Red Bull confirmed the call in a short statement, making clear this is about caution, not doubt.
“After racing for the team in Zandvoort and Monza, Liam will continue to drive alongside Max at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
“The decision has been taken as Isack's recovery continues to progress positively. While he is not yet ready to return to the cockpit, he will be in Madrid supporting the team.
“Everyone at Red Bull Racing looks forward to welcoming Isack back behind the wheel very soon.”
So Hadjar will be in the paddock, but in team kit rather than race overalls. The comeback remains on ice.
Lawson’s second audition
Lawson, meanwhile, is turning this enforced reshuffle into a fresh audition.
At Zandvoort he came out swinging: he qualified just a tenth shy of Verstappen and brought the car home seventh in the Dutch Grand Prix, a stark contrast to his two early 2025 outings for Red Bull that ended with him being dropped.
Monza was messier. The New Zealander went out in Q2, his best lap compromised when he was impeded by Oscar Piastri. Grid penalties for engine changes then sent him to a pit-lane start.
Chaos followed at the early standing restart. Contact with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg forced an unscheduled front-wing change, dumping him to the back. He fought back to 14th, while Verstappen climbed to the podium.
It wasn’t the clean weekend he wanted, but it kept his name in the conversation. Madrid now offers a third chance to make his case in the same machinery as the benchmark of the era.
Tsunoda steady at Racing Bulls
While Red Bull juggle line-ups, Tsunoda is quietly rebuilding his reputation.
Dropped by the senior team last season, the 26-year-old has stitched together two solid weekends for Racing Bulls. At Zandvoort he finished just ahead of team-mate Arvid Lindblad, then followed up with a point for 10th at Monza.
That Monza result, though, is under a cloud. Rivals 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 point stands for now, but the paperwork isn’t finished.
Tsunoda knows what is at stake. Speaking before the Italian Grand Prix, he made no secret of his long game.
“I'm free! Would love to hear those calls, but not yet,” he said, reflecting on his future. “It's good that things are going positive, at least.
“Obviously, my primary target is to be in Formula 1. Let's see. In this world anything can happen. At the same time, it's also knowing that it's not easy to have a seat.”
He is driving like a man who understands that every lap is a job interview for 2027.
Madrid stage set
So Madrid’s new Spanish Grand Prix arrives with three intertwined storylines: Hadjar watching from the garage, Lawson fighting to prove he belongs in a Red Bull long-term, and Tsunoda trying to turn solid weekends into something more permanent.
The schedule is packed. Drivers face the press on Thursday, then roll straight into a busy support bill with F3 and F2 running either side of all three F1 practice sessions. Qualifying takes centre stage on Saturday afternoon, before Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at 2pm local time and the usual post-race debriefs.
For Hadjar, it’s another weekend of patience. For Lawson and Tsunoda, it might be the kind of weekend that decides who actually has a future in the Red Bull universe when 2027 comes around.
