Liam Lawson will return to Racing Bulls for the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP after taking Hadjar’s place in the RB22 since the start of the second half of the season. Red Bull gave Lawson a rare second chance to prove himself thanks to the injury for the 21-year-old. The Kiwi was replaced by Tsunoda after just 2 races in 2025.
Lawson discusses the challenge of adjusting to the RB22
Isaak Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during the summer break. This meant he had to miss the first 3 races of the second half of the season. Lawson has performed well during his short stint, receiving praise from Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies. The Kiwi has scored 14 points across 3 weekends during his time in the Red Bull recently.
At the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Liam Lawson reflected on his time in the RB22. He discussed the challenges of adapting to a different car.
Recently, Max Verstappen talked about the fact he believes it is easier for drivers to be closer to teammates this year. The key reason he thinks is because of how the Power Units operate under the new regulations.
The 24-year-old from New Zealand outlined the difficulties he faced swapping from the VCARB 03 to the RB22.
“Well, I think the thing is, when you come into a, you could say, yes, maybe getting up to speed, or I think the gaps between teams are bigger this year in some ways. They haven’t really been that big recently. It’s been pretty tight.
“But you can look at it like that and say, ‘okay, maybe they’re a little bit more simple to get up to speed.’ But there’s many things that I have personally in my own car, something that I’ve gotten used to over the last year and a half that I’ve basically liked, that I can’t just go and apply in a car like this.
Comfort in the car
“There’s things that I haven’t been very comfortable with in the last few races that I’ve been trying to always drive around. And those are things that are not just simple on paper that you would see, but just a personal driver thing that everybody has things in their own car that they’re comfortable with.
“Yeah, I think as much as maybe all the cars are okay to jump in and drive, maybe they are reasonably simple to get up to speed, it’s that kind of stuff that I’ve been trying to get my head around the last couple of weeks that are different to my car.”
Liam Lawson will be back with Racing Bulls for the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP, with Iscak Hadjar taking back his RB22.
