Hadjar misses Monza: Lawson steps in for Red Bull again, Tsunoda returns to Racing Bulls
Isack Hadjar will not compete in the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza after failing to recover sufficiently from a wrist injury sustained during Formula 1's summer break. Red Bull confirmed on September 2 that Liam Lawson will once again replace the Frenchman in the RB22, while Yuki Tsunoda will temporarily return to Racing Bulls and take Lawson's place. It is the same switch that the two affiliated teams made at the previous race in Zandvoort, where Hadjar also had to remain out of the cockpit. The Milton Keynes-based team said his recovery is progressing encouragingly but that it will not take an unnecessary risk by bringing him back to competition. This confirms that Lawson and Max Verstappen will form Red Bull's driver line-up at one of the fastest circuits on the calendar as well.
Wrist fracture extends Hadjar's absence
In its official statements, Red Bull describes the injury as a wrist injury sustained during the summer break, while Motorsport.com, citing information about the circumstances of the injury, reported that it was a fracture suffered during boxing training. Hadjar consequently already missed the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race after the summer break, and there had initially been hope that he might return for Monza. The French driver said in late August that the injury was healing quickly, but the final decision was made in favour of continuing his rehabilitation. Red Bull stressed that it is closely monitoring his recovery and will not force a return merely so that the driver can compete in a single race. The exact date of Hadjar's return has not currently been officially confirmed, so the decision on whether he will compete in the next round of the championship will depend on further progress and the team's assessment.
Such caution is particularly understandable in the context of the demands of a modern Formula 1 car. Throughout the weekend, a driver must withstand heavy loads under braking, changes of direction and when riding over kerbs, while precise steering control is crucial at every stage of a lap. Monza may have fewer slow corners than many other circuits, but its long straights end with extremely heavy braking zones, while the chicanes require fast and precise placement of the car. Red Bull has not published medical details of Hadjar's condition or a deadline by which his wrist is expected to be fully ready for racing. The most important confirmed information is therefore that the Frenchman's recovery is progressing, but that he has not yet been given the green light to return for the weekend of September 4 to 6.
Lawson gets another opportunity alongside Verstappen
For Liam Lawson, the decision means a second consecutive appearance for Red Bull in the current run of races. The New Zealander took over Hadjar's car at short notice in Zandvoort, qualified eighth and finished the race in seventh place. According to Red Bull's official report, Lawson managed to remain in contention for points in changing conditions, while Verstappen retired after going off the track and hitting the safety barrier. The six points scored were therefore important both for the team and for Lawson personally, especially because it was his first competitive weekend with Red Bull since his very brief first stint with the senior team in 2025. At Monza, he will now get another opportunity to show how much he has developed in the meantime and how quickly he can adapt to the RB22.
Lawson's history with Red Bull's driver programme gives this return additional significance. At the start of the 2025 season, he was promoted to Red Bull as Verstappen's team-mate, but after only two races he was sent back to Racing Bulls and Tsunoda took his place. Formula 1 reported at the time that the decision was made after a difficult start to the season for the New Zealander, who had failed to adapt quickly enough to the RB21 of that year. During his subsequent spell at Racing Bulls he rebuilt his form, and in 2026, until Hadjar's injury, he had been driving a full season for the Faenza-based team. His temporary return to Red Bull is therefore not merely a technical substitution because of an injury, but also an opportunity for Lawson to compare himself with Verstappen again under different circumstances from those of a year and a half ago.
According to the official Formula 1 standings ahead of Monza, Lawson is ninth in the drivers' championship with 49 points. Hadjar is eighth with 68, while Verstappen is sixth with 112 points. Those figures show that both Hadjar and Lawson have regularly scored points for their teams during the season, although Red Bull is not in the dominant position in 2026 that it occupied in earlier seasons. For Lawson, Monza will therefore also be a sporting test at a time when the team is trying to make the most of every weekend. He has already delivered one solid performance in Zandvoort; now comes a circuit with completely different aerodynamic demands.
Tsunoda returns to the starting line-up again
The change at Red Bull automatically opens a place at sister team Racing Bulls as well. Yuki Tsunoda will therefore replace Lawson for the second consecutive race and drive alongside Arvid Lindblad. At the end of 2025, the Japanese driver lost his permanent place in Red Bull's race line-up and in 2026 took on the role of test and reserve driver for the two teams. Hadjar's injury has brought him back into a competitive rhythm: in Zandvoort he finished 11th, just outside the points, while Lindblad was 12th. Racing Bulls thanked the drivers for their adaptability after the Dutch weekend, and the same team structure will now be retained in Italy.
Monza is familiar territory for Tsunoda, but returning after a longer period without a permanent race seat presents a different challenge from a normal weekend. A reserve driver has to quickly fit into operational procedures, car set-up work and collaboration with the engineers, while not having the luxury of a long preparation period over a sequence of races. His task will be to help Racing Bulls remain competitive in the midfield, while Lindblad continues his own rookie season. According to Formula 1 data, Racing Bulls has 66 points in the constructors' standings ahead of Monza and sits ahead of several midfield rivals. Lawson's temporary departure therefore changes not only Red Bull's line-up but also affects the Faenza-based team, which must maintain continuity amid a battle for every position.
Hadjar's strong season halted at a sensitive moment
Hadjar's absence is particularly significant because the 21-year-old Frenchman had produced a very consistent run of results before the summer break. Official Formula 1 results show that he finished fourth in Monaco, fifth in Canada and Great Britain, and sixth in Barcelona, Austria, Belgium and Hungary. Before the injury, he had collected 68 points and held eighth place in the overall drivers' standings. Red Bull promoted him to the senior team for 2026 after an impressive rookie season with Racing Bulls in 2025, during which he also achieved his first Formula 1 podium. His progress this year had therefore been one of the more important elements of Red Bull's new driver line-up alongside four-time world champion Verstappen.
A two-race absence comes at a point in the season when the points situation can change quickly. Hadjar currently has 19 points more than Lawson, but the drivers behind them also have an opportunity to reduce the gap while the Frenchman is out of the car. At the same time, his status within the team has not been called into question: Red Bull continues to list him as its permanent driver, while Lawson has clearly been presented as a temporary replacement. The key issue is therefore not a battle for Hadjar's seat, but assessing the moment when his wrist will have recovered sufficiently for a full return. By stating that it will not take an unnecessary risk, the team has clearly indicated that the short-term result in Monza does not take priority over the driver's long-term health and the remainder of the season.
Monza brings a completely different test from Zandvoort
The Italian Grand Prix takes place from September 4 to 6 at the historic 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza. According to official Formula 1 data, the race consists of 53 laps and covers a total distance of 306.72 kilometres. For decades, Monza has been synonymous with extremely high average speeds, long full-throttle sections and low-drag aerodynamic configurations. It is the complete opposite of Zandvoort, which features a sequence of banked corners, many changes of direction and a different load profile. Lawson will therefore not simply repeat the job he did in the Netherlands, but will have to work quickly with the engineers to find the right balance for the RB22 to meet the specific demands of the Italian circuit.
According to the official Formula 1 schedule, the first free practice session in Monza begins on Friday, September 4 at 10:30 local time, with the second at 14:00. Third practice is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30, qualifying at 14:00, while the race starts on Sunday, September 6 at 13:00. Every practice session will be important for Lawson because, after Zandvoort, he has only one race of experience with this year's Red Bull. The data collected in the Netherlands will make it easier for him to develop a basic understanding of the car, but Monza requires different wing levels, different compromises under braking and highly efficient use of straight-line speed. That is precisely why his second substitute race may provide a more accurate picture of how adaptable he is in different conditions.
Red Bull arrives at Monza under pressure to score points
The current standings show just how different the 2026 season is for Red Bull. According to official Formula 1 data, before the Italian Grand Prix the team is fourth in the constructors' championship with 186 points, behind its leading rivals. Verstappen has 112 points and Hadjar 68, while Lawson's six points from Zandvoort are credited to Red Bull for that race, even though he is still listed as a Racing Bulls driver in the drivers' standings. Red Bull has yet to win a main race this year, but it has several podium finishes and a number of strong individual results. In such a situation, the absence of a permanent driver further complicates preparations because the team must simultaneously take care of Hadjar's recovery and try to extract the maximum from its temporary line-up.
Lawson already showed in Zandvoort that he can finish in the points without a long adaptation period, which gives Red Bull a certain degree of confidence ahead of Monza. Nevertheless, seventh place at one circuit is no guarantee of the same result at another. The Italian weekend will also be important for comparing his pace with Verstappen's, particularly in qualifying, where small differences on a circuit with a short lap time can mean several positions on the grid. For Racing Bulls, Tsunoda's return must at the same time be stable enough to ensure the team does not lose momentum in the midfield battle. A single injury has therefore triggered a chain of changes across two teams, but both now enter Monza with at least one weekend of experience using the same temporary line-ups.
No official date yet for Hadjar's return
Another round of the championship follows Monza, but Red Bull has not yet announced exactly which race Hadjar is expected to return for. In the official confirmation for the Italian weekend, the emphasis is on encouraging progress and continued monitoring of his rehabilitation, without a firm deadline. This leaves open the possibility that a decision will be made only after additional medical and functional assessments. For a driver who was eighth in the championship before his injury, the priority will be to return at a point when he can complete an entire weekend without unnecessary compromise. Until then, Lawson will remain Red Bull's most direct option to fill his seat, while Tsunoda can temporarily fill the resulting vacancy at Racing Bulls.
In Monza, however, the situation is completely clear: Hadjar will not race, Lawson will once again line up alongside Verstappen, and Tsunoda will compete for Racing Bulls alongside Lindblad. Friday, September 4 will provide the first real indication of how well Lawson has settled into his second consecutive assignment for Red Bull and how Tsunoda will adapt to the VCARB03 on a circuit that rewards efficiency and straight-line speed. For Hadjar, the same weekend will be spent continuing his recovery, without pressure to return before the team determines that he is ready. Red Bull's approach in this case remains conservative: points in Monza are important, but not important enough to risk the premature return of a driver with a wrist injury.
Sources:
- Formula 1 – confirmation that Liam Lawson will replace Isack Hadjar at Red Bull, while Yuki Tsunoda replaces Lawson at Racing Bulls for the Italian Grand Prix (link)
- Motorsport.com – details of Hadjar's wrist injury, the fracture sustained during training and the decision to miss Monza (link)
- Formula 1 – official drivers' standings for the 2026 season and the points totals of Hadjar, Lawson and Verstappen (link)
- Formula 1 – official information on Red Bull in the 2026 season, including its position and points in the constructors' standings (link)
- Oracle Red Bull Racing – Dutch Grand Prix report and Lawson's seventh-place finish in Zandvoort (link)
- Formula 1 – official schedule and technical data for the 2026 Italian Grand Prix in Monza (link)
- Formula 1 – background on Lawson's and Tsunoda's moves between Red Bull and Racing Bulls during 2025 (link)