Liam Lawson to Partner Max Verstappen at Monza

Liam Lawson will stay in the hottest seat of his career for at least one more weekend.

Red Bull confirmed overnight that the New Zealander will again partner Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, with Isack Hadjar still sidelined by a wrist injury that refuses to heal quickly enough for a race return.

Lawson stays, Hadjar waits

Hadjar had talked up his chances of making it back for Sunday, buoyed by what he described as rapid progress and growing mobility in the wrist he injured during the summer break, reportedly in a boxing workout. Hope, though, has given way to caution.

“Liam will drive alongside Max at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, while Isack continues to make encouraging progress following the wrist injury sustained during the summer break,” Red Bull said in a statement on social media, adding that the team is “closely monitoring his rehabilitation” and will “take no unnecessary risks” with his comeback.

The message is clear: no gamble, no shortcuts. And no guarantee, either, that Hadjar will be back in time for next week’s Spanish Grand Prix. On that front, the team stayed silent.

For Hadjar, it extends an unwanted spell on the sidelines. He already missed last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, forced to watch with a wrist brace on after the late training mishap derailed his weekend before it had even begun. In a team video from Zandvoort, the frustration poured out.

“It’s my first injury ever in my whole existence, career, whatever. It’s weird to be on the bench and I’m not happy about it,” he said then, clinging to the positives: “It’s not swollen, which is a good sign. It’s healing fast. Every day I have a bit more mobility and I’m hopeful for Monza.”

Monza will now go ahead without him.

Tsunoda back in the mix

Lawson’s promotion has triggered a reshuffle further down the Red Bull ladder. With Hadjar out, he keeps the senior seat he inherited in the Netherlands, while Yuki Tsunoda steps in again at Racing Bulls to cover Lawson’s usual drive.

It is a curious twist. Tsunoda, dropped by Red Bull in December, only returned to the F1 grid at Zandvoort, where he finished 11th on his comeback. Now he gets a second chance to remind the paddock what he can still offer, this time on the high-speed stage of Monza.

Lawson, by contrast, arrives in Italy with momentum and a point to prove. He turned his Dutch opportunity into a composed seventh-place finish, underlining why his name has lingered around the Red Bull conversation even after he was cut loose following just two races in 2025.

This season, he has built a compelling case. Ninth in the standings, one place behind Hadjar, Lawson has almost double the points of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad. That kind of return forces decisions. It has already forced this one.

Now he heads to Monza, still alongside Verstappen, with another grand prix to strengthen his grip on a future that once seemed to have slipped away.