Lawson replaces injured Hadjar as Tsunoda gets F1 return
Liam Lawson will make a return to the Red Bull Formula 1 team at this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix in place of an injured Isack Hadjar, with Yuki Tsunoda in turn getting a call-up to race for the sister Racing Bulls team.
Hadjar injured his wrist during the F1 summer break - as first reported by Dutch publication De Telegraaf - to such an extent that he will be sidelined for this weekend's race at Zandvoort, where last year he scored his first F1 podium for Racing Bulls.
Lawson will therefore make his third start for the senior team, stepping up from Racing Bulls.
He was originally picked as Sergio Perez's replacement for the 2025 season, but lasted just two rounds before being unceremoniously dropped - returning to Racing Bulls while Tsunoda was promoted to partner Max Verstappen.
Lawson rebounded well from that demotion, scoring points seven times with a best finish of fifth over the remainder of that campaign, and that uptick in form helped him retain a drive for 2026 at the expense of Tsunoda, who also struggled to make an impression in the second Red Bull seat.
And Lawson has begun the 2026 campaign encouragingly; he sits ninth in the drivers' championship standings with 43 points, a tally that has also helped elevate Racing Bulls into fifth in the constructors' standings.
That experience of these vastly different and complex 2026 cars is likely why the 24-year-old - who got his F1 break at Zandvoort three years ago, deputising for Daniel Ricciardo when he broke his hand in an FP2 crash - has been picked over Tsunoda to race alongside Verstappen.
Tsunoda is currently serving as Red Bull's reserve driver following his exit from a race seat at the end of 2025.
This week, he has been linked to an IndyCar future at the Meyer Shank Honda team in place of Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist, as Rosenqvist returns to McLaren’s IndyCar team for 2027.
The Zandvoort opportunity will mark Tsunoda's 90th start for the junior team that he first raced for in 2021.
Red Bull has not announced whether Hadjar will need to miss any subsequent rounds.
For the past five years the Dutch GP has taken place one week before the Italian GP at Monza, but this year there is a two-week gap between them, providing longer for recovery.
