Liam Lawson replaces injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull for Italian Grand Prix

Lawson retained for Monza as Hadjar recovers

Red Bull confirmed on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, that Liam Lawson will continue to drive alongside Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. French driver Isack Hadjar remains unable to compete as he recovers from a broken wrist suffered during boxing training in the summer break. The 21-year-old rookie missed the Dutch Grand Prix in late August and will now miss a second consecutive round of the 2026 world championship. Red Bull confirmed that medical personnel are monitoring Hadjar's physical therapy closely and will not rush the driver back into competition prematurely. The team stated that it wants to avoid taking any unnecessary risks while the driver works through his rehabilitation program before upcoming rounds.

Liam will drive alongside Max at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, while Isack continues to make encouraging progress following the wrist injury sustained during the summer break.

The team is closely monitoring his rehabilitation and will take no unnecessary risks with his return to competition and wishes him a speedy recovery.

Grid reshuffle at Racing Bulls

Lawson, a 24-year-old New Zealander, normally competes for Red Bull's sister squad, Racing Bulls, which the organization traditionally uses to develop junior talent. His temporary elevation to the primary Red Bull team opens a seat at the Faenza-based team for the Monza race weekend running from 4 to 6 September. Japanese reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda will take over that car for the second consecutive Grand Prix. Tsunoda partnered Verstappen at the senior Red Bull outfit during the 2025 campaign but does not hold a full-time seat on the 2026 grid. At Monza, Tsunoda will race alongside British-Swedish rookie Arvid Lindblad after finishing 11th and just outside the points at Zandvoort.

Hadjar's interrupted debut season

The wrist injury halts a consistent run of form for Hadjar in his first season driving for Red Bull. Prior to the summer shutdown, the Frenchman assembled a streak of seven consecutive points-scoring finishes, concluding with a sixth-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July. Hadjar currently holds eighth place in the drivers' championship standings with 68 points. His back-to-back medical absences represent the first time a Formula 1 driver has missed consecutive rounds due to injury since 2023, when Daniel Ricciardo missed five Grands Prix with a fractured metacarpal in his left hand. Hadjar will continue his recovery process ahead of the inaugural Spanish round in Madrid, scheduled one week after Monza.

Championship standings heading into Italy

Lawson enters the Monza race weekend in ninth position in the drivers' championship with 49 points, trailing Hadjar by 19 points. His seventh-place finish at Zandvoort represented his strongest result as a Red Bull driver, following an initial two-race stint with the team in 2025. That result provided the only points for Red Bull at the Dutch Grand Prix after Verstappen crashed out on the opening lap, leaving the Dutch driver sixth in the standings. Red Bull currently sits fourth in the constructors' championship standings, trailing Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren. At the top of the drivers' standings, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who turned 20 last week, maintains a 59-point advantage over teammate George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.