Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has reiterated that the team will keep Isack Hadjar's rehabilitation at the forefront, refusing to accelerate his comeback simply to fill a seat. The French driver has been sidelined for the past three rounds after injuring his wrist during a routine training session that took place just as the championship emerged from its summer hiatus. In his absence, Liam Lawson, who races for the sister Racing Bulls outfit, has been called upon to fill the vacancy. Mekies addressed the media following the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, confirming that Hadjar's recuperation is proceeding according to the schedule they set out.
He explained that a dedicated simulator run is slated for the coming days, which will serve as a practical gauge of the youngster's readiness to return to the grid at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. "There is nothing wrong with Isack's recovery. I think we have learned that it's fundamentally a normal time for the sort of injuries he has," Mekies said.
"So we will continue with the same approach and what we have. We will evaluate the situation in a week's time." He added that the team now has a little more than a full week to monitor Hadjar's condition, to see how he feels, and then to place him in the simulator where he can experience realistic physical constraints without the pressures of an actual race weekend. "If he feels close to 100 per cent, we go for it.
If he feels the recovery is not completed, we will stick to our approach and put his recovery first. What we don't want to do is, by having an early return, compromise his long‑term capacity to come back to 100 per cent," Mekies emphasized. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a street‑circuit event in the capital city, will break from the usual Friday‑Saturday‑Sunday schedule. Practice is set for Wednesday, with qualifying on Thursday and the race on Saturday, kicking off a three‑week sprint of back‑to‑back races that will continue in Malaysia and Singapore the following weekends.
In the meantime, Lawson has stepped up from Racing Bulls to the senior Red Bull seat, marking his second stint with the team after a brief, ill‑fated two‑race appearance at the start of the previous season. Yuki Tsunoda remains with Racing Bulls, while Lawson has already shown he can adapt quickly, qualifying eighth on two occasions and scoring points in both Zandvoort and Madrid, where he finished sixth.
"I think he's done a very good job," Mekies praised. "We all know how difficult it is to jump to a different team, to a different car, and I think he has done that to the best of what could have been our expectations.
He has taken some very important points in Madrid with a P6. He did the same in Zandvoort, and in Monza he would have done something similar without the contact with Nico Hulkenberg and the damage." Mekies continued, "So, I think he did a very good job.
Again, very different pictures compared to the first races of 2025 when he was in the team, so we are thankful and happy with that." Lawson's resurgence at Racing Bulls over the past year has been evident. After a period of inconsistency, he rebuilt his confidence and began delivering regular points finishes before being called up to the senior Red Bull car on short notice.
Mekies, who has worked closely with Lawson across both Red Bull entities, noted, "I think he has continued to grow as a driver. He's very calm in the car; he's very focused. He's certainly making...
I don't know if he makes an effort or not, but he's certainly managed to keep things simple in the way he tracks with the team and in the way he tackles his own performance and the car performance." He went on to explain Lawson's mindset: "So, he's focused on the essentials; he tries to get the basics right, and it's working for him. Of course, with more time in the car, you can then get to another degree of finesse, maybe. But I think that, of course, is very, very strong." Looking ahead, the Red Bull camp will spend the next several days closely monitoring Hadjar's wrist, conducting physiotherapy sessions, strength assessments, and the aforementioned simulator work.
The goal is to ensure that when he does step back onto the track, he does so with full confidence and without lingering physical limitations that could jeopardise his performance or safety. Fans can follow the action live on Sky Sports F1, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix serving as the opening act of the September triple‑header. The race will be streamed via NOW, offering a contract‑free option that can be cancelled at any time. As the season pushes deeper into its final stretch, Red Bull remains focused on balancing immediate competitive needs with the long‑term health and development of its drivers, a strategy that they hope will pay dividends both on and off the track.