Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar out of Dutch Grand Prix with wrist injury

Formula One returns this weekend after a four-week absence with the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort; however, one driver that won’t be on the grid is Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar.

The French driver will miss this weekend’s exploits due to a wrist injury — understood to have occurred while doing boxing training — and is replaced in the hot seat by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. The New Zealander briefly appeared for Red Bull at the start of the 2025 F1 season, before being replaced in the team by Yuki Tsunoda after a disappointing couple of races.

Lawson will now aim to help new temporary teammate Max Verstappen and Red Bull as it hopes to kickstart its 2026 season. After 11 rounds so far, Red Bull has failed to win a race, although Verstappen has achieved P2 finishes in the Austrian and Hungarian Grands Prix.

Liam Lawson (right) will replace Hadjar for Red Bull in the Netherlands

Tsunoda will return to the F1 grid by stepping into Lawson’s seat at Racing Bulls. The Japanese driver lost his place after spending the majority of the 2026 season as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate. In 22 races with Red Bull, Tsunoda failed to impress enough to earn a longer stay as part of the driver lineup, instead taking the role of test and reserve driver for this season.

A brief reprieve gives the 26 year old the opportunity to put himself in the shop window, as teams begin to assemble their 2027 driver lineups.

Zandvoort prepares to bid farewell with final F1 race before exiting calendar

This weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix will be the final of its current run as it prepares to exit the F1 calendar.

Despite consistently selling out with passionate Dutch fans, the Grand Prix has found it difficult to make the event work financially. Proposals had been made for races in the Netherlands and Belgium to alternate each year; however, that idea was quickly shot down by those at Spa who wanted the circuit to continue to host a yearly race.

The race returned to F1 in 2021 following a 36 year absence and extensive modifications to the circuit. It proved to be a happy hunting ground for home favourite Verstappen, who won the race three years in a row after its reintroduction to the calendar. The 2025 Grand Prix was won by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Red Bull Content Pool