Red Bull Racing will field Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda as Isack Hadjar misses his third consecutive Grand Prix in Madrid, after a wrist fracture suffered during a boxing workout.
Red Bull Adjusts Line‑up for Spanish GP
The team announced that Hadjar will require additional recovery time, preventing him from taking the driver’s seat at this weekend’s double‑header. Although his healing is marked as progressing, he is “not yet ready to return to the cockpit,” according to the Red Bull press release.
Lawson and Tsunoda Step In
With the Frenchman sidelined, Liam Lawson returned to the RB22 to partner Max Verstappen, while Yuki Tsunoda was re‑assigned to the Racing Bulls. Lawson had finished seventh at Zandvoort and failed to convert a qualification point at Monza due to an engine penalty, whereas Tsunoda collected his first campaign point fighting to 10th place at the Italian round. Audi is weighing an appeal against the stewards’ decision not to penalise Tsunoda for an extra formation lap.
Impact of the Wrist Injury
Hadjar’s injury was sustained at the end of the summer break; the fracture forced his exit from the Dutch Grand Prix and prompted the shift of Lawson and Tsunoda into the team’s race programmes. Red Bull’s management, led by Laurent Mekies, had already flagged the Madrid return as “tricky,” given the tight schedule and the complexity of the new circuit.
With Hadjar sidelined yet again, the team’s backup strategy highlights the fragile balance between driver availability and performance ambition as the season unfolds.
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