MILTON KEYNES — Red Bull has provided an update on Isack Hadjar's recovery from a wrist injury sustained while training during the summer break, with the 21-year-old Frenchman having missed the last three consecutive Formula 1 races. Hadjar was replaced by Liam Lawson at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, while Red Bull reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda filled Lawson's place at Racing Bulls. It remains to be seen whether Hadjar will be fit to return for next weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, which marks the start of a triple-header.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies insisted after the Spanish Grand Prix that Hadjar's recovery is going to plan and revealed the team has a simulator session scheduled before Baku to assess his readiness. "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. "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," he said, adding: "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."
Mekies praised stand-in Lawson, who has partnered four-time world champion Max Verstappen during Hadjar's absence after being brutally demoted by Red Bull just two races into the 2025 season. The Kiwi scored points in his first race back at Zandvoort, started from the back of the grid at Monza due to taking a grid penalty for an engine change, and qualified eighth in Madrid before finishing sixth — marking his best result since returning to the senior team. "I think he's done a very good job," Mekies said. "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."
Mekies, who has worked with Lawson at both Red Bull teams, said the driver has continued to develop with a calm and focused approach. "I think he has continued to grow as a driver. He's very calm in the car; he's very focused," Mekies said. "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."