Hadjar to miss Dutch Grand Prix after hand injury; Lawson and Tsunoda to step in

Isack Hadjar will miss this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort after injuring his hand during the summer break, and New Zealander Liam Lawson is understood to be set to replace him for the race.

Red Bull have not officially announced the driver changes; their public guidance remains that Hadjar is "likely" to miss the race, but the situation has been confirmed to BBC Sport by a source close to the team. Hadjar has not had details of his injury released by Red Bull, but he is understood to have broken his hand while boxing. Lawson normally races for Red Bull's second team, Racing Bulls, and Japan's Yuki Tsunoda is expected to take Lawson's Racing Bulls seat; Tsunoda was dropped from the leading team at the end of last season.

Lawson's temporary promotion follows two disappointing races for him with Red Bull at the start of the 2025 season, a sequence cited in the account of his demotion back to Racing Bulls. He had been due to race alongside Max Verstappen for all of 2025 but was demoted after the first two grands prix following those two lacklustre performances.

Red Bull have endured a difficult first half of 2026, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen yet to record a victory so far this year. The team's early-season struggles form the wider context for the driver shuffle prompted by Hadjar's injury.

Verstappen finished the 2025 season two points behind world champion Lando Norris of McLaren, after a second-half revival in which he made up more than 100 points on the championship lead. That recovery contrasted with Red Bull's start to 2026 and is part of the season-to-season context detailed in the report.

Verstappen's best results in 2026 to date are second places in the Austrian and Hungarian Grands Prix. He will race at his home grand prix for the final time this weekend at the seaside town of Zandvoort, with the event scheduled to drop off the calendar after this season because organisers are no longer able to make it financially viable.

The driver changes, while not yet officially announced by Red Bull, concern this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and, if confirmed, would see Lawson step into Hadjar's seat with Tsunoda moving into the Racing Bulls entry for the race.