Isack Hadjar to sit out third F1 race in Madrid as Yuki Tsunoda returns

Yuki Tsunoda will remain at Racing Bulls for F1's Spanish GP, with Liam Lawson replacing the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull for a third straight event

Red Bull has confirmed Isack Hadjar will require more time to recover from his wrist injury, which will see the Frenchman sit out his third consecutive grand prix at this weekend's Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.

Liam Lawson will return to the RB22 to partner Max Verstappen, while Yuki Tsunoda gets another race with Racing Bulls.

"The decision has been taken as Isack's recovery continues to progress positively," Red Bull communicated on Monday evening. "While he is not yet ready to return to the cockpit, he will be in Madrid supporting the team."

Hadjar sustained a wrist fracture at the end of the summer break while boxing, which is a regular part of his workout routine. It forced the sophomore driver out of August's Dutch Grand Prix, with Red Bull moving regular Racing Bulls driver Lawson to the parent team's car alongside Verstappen while reserve driver Tsunoda was handed an F1 comeback with the junior team.

With Red Bull not keen to take any risk with Hadjar's injury, Lawson and Tsunoda remained on station for last weekend's Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Given the short turnaround to this weekend's Madrid race as part of a double-header, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies had already indicated a return to competition at the brand-new Madring circuit would be "tricky" for Hadjar. Now it has been confirmed that Hadjar will miss his third grand prix in a row.

In Hadjar's absence, Lawson enjoyed his return to Red Bull in much less turbulent circumstances than his curtailed two-race stint at the start of 2025. The New Zealander took seventh in Zandvoort, while he was unable to recover from an engine penalty to score points in Monza.

Tsunoda took his first point of the campaign at the Italian round in 10th place, though Audi is still considering an appeal against the stewards' decision not to penalise the Japanese driver for causing an extra formation lap.