Hadjar Ruled Out of Madrid as Lawson Gets Third Straight Red Bull Start
GOATIFYRed Bull will head into Formula 1's new Madrid weekend without Isack Hadjar, extending the team's temporary driver reshuffle for a third consecutive Grand Prix.
Hadjar is still recovering from the fractured wrist he suffered during the summer break and has not been cleared to return to the cockpit. That means Liam Lawson will again partner Max Verstappen for the Spanish Grand Prix, having already substituted for Hadjar at Zandvoort and Monza.
The decision keeps Red Bull on the cautious side of a difficult recovery timeline. Hadjar's progress has been described as positive, and he is expected to be with the team in Madrid, but being well enough to attend a race weekend is very different from being ready to handle the physical demands of a Formula 1 car. With no confirmed return date, Red Bull is giving the injury time rather than treating Madrid as a deadline.
Hadjar's Recovery Is Moving Forward, but Red Bull Is Refusing to Rush It
Hadjar's absence in Madrid will make it three races in a row on the sidelines. He also missed the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix after fracturing his wrist during a boxing training session over the summer break.
That sequence matters because the temptation to return quickly is obvious. A Formula 1 season moves fast, every missed weekend costs competitive rhythm, and Hadjar remains firmly embedded in Red Bull's plans. But a wrist injury is particularly awkward for a driver who has to deal with steering loads, kerb strikes, rapid corrections and the constant physical vibration transmitted through the wheel.
Red Bull has therefore chosen the safer path. The team says the recovery is progressing, but Hadjar is not ready to drive. There is no public target date attached to his comeback, which avoids turning the next race into another artificial deadline.
Hadjar had hoped to be back sooner, but the team also kept him out at Monza rather than taking an unnecessary risk. The same logic now carries into Madrid. He will remain around the operation, able to follow the weekend and work with the engineers, without being asked to prove his fitness inside the car before the medical picture is clear.
For a young driver, that can be frustrating. It is also the kind of decision that can protect the rest of the season. A rushed return that aggravates the injury would be far more damaging than missing one additional Grand Prix.
Lawson Gets a Third Weekend to Turn a Substitute Role Into a Statement
Hadjar's delay creates another unusually valuable opportunity for Lawson. The New Zealander will make a third straight appearance for Red Bull alongside Verstappen, giving him more continuity than a normal one-off reserve assignment.
His first two substitute weekends produced very different outcomes. Lawson finished seventh at Zandvoort, a strong result that showed he could step into the senior team and immediately score useful points. Monza was much more difficult, with a tougher qualifying session followed by a 14th-place finish.
Madrid now becomes a chance to show which of those weekends is the better guide to his current level. The circumstances are also unusual because no driver arrives with years of accumulated race data at the new venue. Everyone has to build knowledge of the circuit from scratch, reducing one of the normal disadvantages faced by a substitute who joins a car mid-season.
Lawson still has the harder side of the Red Bull comparison. Verstappen remains the reference in the other car, and every session naturally puts Lawson's pace, feedback and tyre management beside one of the grid's most demanding benchmarks. But that also makes the opportunity meaningful. A solid Madrid weekend would not be hidden inside a lower-profile team; it would be measured directly against the standard Red Bull expects.
There is a wider career angle as well. Lawson is already enjoying one of his strongest Formula 1 seasons and entered this weekend ninth in the championship, one position behind Hadjar. These substitute races give Red Bull more current evidence about how he performs inside the senior operation under pressure, rather than relying only on past impressions.
That does not make Madrid an audition for somebody else's permanent seat. Hadjar remains part of the team's plans and is expected back when healthy. But Formula 1 opportunities are rarely meaningless. Every clean session, useful engineering contribution and points finish adds to the picture teams build when future lineups are discussed.
The Driver Shuffle Keeps Racing Bulls in a Temporary Holding Pattern
One injured wrist has temporarily changed two Red Bull-owned lineups. With Lawson remaining beside Verstappen, Yuki Tsunoda continues at Racing Bulls alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad.
That arrangement gives the wider Red Bull system continuity for another weekend, but it also means neither team is operating with the lineup it expected before the summer break. Engineers have to keep building around temporary pairings while Hadjar works toward full fitness.
For Racing Bulls, the situation gives Lindblad another weekend in which the spotlight is shared across the driver program. The rookie is not simply racing his own Grand Prix; his performance sits inside a broader reshuffle involving Lawson, Tsunoda, Hadjar and the senior Red Bull team.
The cleanest outcome for both teams would be a straightforward Madrid weekend followed by clarity on Hadjar's return. Red Bull has not committed to that timetable, however, and the next round in Azerbaijan on September 26 remains the next obvious checkpoint rather than a guaranteed comeback date.
Until then, Lawson has the senior-team opportunity, Tsunoda and Lindblad hold the Racing Bulls seats, and Hadjar remains involved without driving. That may look like an awkward holding pattern, but it is preferable to forcing the injured driver back before he can safely handle a full Formula 1 weekend.
Madrid will therefore tell Red Bull two things at once. It will show whether Lawson can build on the promise of Zandvoort after the setback at Monza, and it will give Hadjar another week of recovery without the pressure of an artificial return date.
The headline is that Hadjar misses another race. The more important long-term decision is that Red Bull is willing to accept that short-term absence rather than gamble with the health of a driver it expects to need for the rest of the season.
