With Isack Hadjar still recovering from his injury, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda will continue to drive for Red Bull and Racing Bulls, respectively, during the 2026 F1 Italian GP weekend.
The Milton Keynes outfit announced on August 19 that Hadjar had sustained a wrist injury during the summer break, thereby ruling him out of the season-resuming event at Zandvoort. As Lawson stepped up from the satellite squad to substitute for the French-Algerian driver, Tsunoda filled in for the New Zealander.
As it stands, Hadjar, who currently sits eighth in the Drivers’ Championship standings, will remain on the sidelines at Monza as well. Carrying out further medical evaluations on Wednesday, Red Bull have decided that he is not yet fully fit to drive at the Italian GP this weekend.
While his future within the Red Bull stable remains uncertain, delivering strong results in back-to-back races would certainly make a convincing case for Lawson’s renewal with Racing Bulls for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda will look forward to demonstrating his adaptability once again at Monza. Stacking up well against teammate Arvid Lindblad would put him back on the radar of the F1 pit lane.
How the substitute drivers had fared at Zandvoort
The 2026 Dutch GP marked Liam Lawson’s first race for Red Bull since his brief two-round stint in 2025, with the team subsequently demoting him back to Racing Bulls in a direct swap with Yuki Tsunoda.
After setting the eleventh-fastest time in Sprint qualifying, the 24-year-old finished the 24-lap Sprint race right where he started in P11.
Lawson delivered a standout performance in the Grand Prix format to reach Q3 and qualify eighth, ending up just 0.115 seconds behind teammate Max Verstappen.
In Sunday’s race, the Kiwi overcame a 10-second penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags to finish P7. While the four-time World Champion crashed out on the opening lap, he finally managed to score his first points as a Red Bull Racing driver.
Having lost his full-time drive at the end of last season and taken up the role of test and reserve driver for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls, Tsunoda temporarily filled Lawson’s vacant seat at Zandvoort.
Following a single hour of practice, Tsunoda found himself P12 in Sprint qualifying, just 0.009 seconds behind Lawson—the driver he was subbing for. In the Sprint, he lost a place to Franco Colapinto and finished in thirteenth place.
The Japanese driver took P12 once again in the second segment of Grand Prix qualifying. However, the smaller gap of 0.102 seconds to his teammate reflected his improved confidence in that session.
On Sunday, Tsunoda and his friend and former teammate Pierre Gasly battled for the final point—creating a spectacle that lasted for much of the race. Ultimately, the 26-year-old narrowly missed out on tenth place.
What Lawson and Tsunoda will seek to achieve at the Italian GP
As he acts as Isack Hadjar’s replacement once again, Liam Lawson’s objective for the thirteenth round of the 2026 F1 campaign will be to keep up with Verstappen in qualifying and drive a clean, steady race on Sunday to maximise his race weekend.
On the other hand, Racing Bulls will seek to mitigate any points loss to closest rivals Alpine at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Yuki Tsunoda’s main tasks will entail building on his experience from Zandvoort, tackling the energy management requirements at the most power-hungry circuit on the F1 calendar, and potentially finishing in the top ten.
“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,” Red Bull Racing provided an update on Wednesday.
“The Team is closely monitoring his rehabilitation and will take no unnecessary risks with his return to competition and wishes him a speedy recovery.”
“It’s good to hear Isack is recovering well and is back in the car soon, but it’s great to have another weekend with the team,” Lawson said in a statement shared by Red Bull.
“Zandvoort gave me a really useful first reference in the car, and having a full sprint weekend behind me means I’m coming into Monza with a much better understanding of the car and what I need from it. It’s a completely different track, and there’ll be new challenges, but I’m looking forward to building on the last weekend with the Team and seeing what we can do.”
