With Isack Hadjar still recovering from his injury, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda will continue to drive for Red Bull and Racing Bulls during the F1 Spanish 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 for Madrid as well. Carrying out further medical evaluations, Red Bull have decided that he is not yet fully fit to drive at the Spanish GP this weekend.
While his future within the Red Bull stable remains uncertain, delivering strong results in this spell would help Lawson’s hopes of a renewal with Racing Bulls for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, Tsunoda will look forward to demonstrating his adaptability once again at Madrid. Stacking up well against teammate Arvid Lindblad would put him back on the radar of the F1 pit lane. He bagged his first point in 2026 last Sunday at Monza.
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.
At Monza, the Japanese driver finished in 10th following a good recovery from a difficult qualifying. Liam Lawson was P14 as damage from contact with Nico Hülkenberg was costly.
Ahead of a new race at Madrid for the F1 Spanish GP, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda will be hoping to score good points.
