Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies reiterated that the French driver Isack Hadjar’s rehabilitation will remain the top priority, and the team will not rush him back onto the grid. The decision on whether Hadjar will race at the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be made after a series of assessments in the coming days. Hadjar has been sidelined for the last three rounds after injuring his wrist during a routine training session that took place just before the sport resumed following its summer hiatus. In his absence, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson has been drafted in to fill the vacant seat.
Speaking to the press after the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, Mekies explained that Hadjar’s recovery is progressing exactly as expected. The team has scheduled a simulator run for the young driver, which will serve as a practical gauge of his readiness for a possible return 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 week to monitor the Frenchman’s condition, run him through the simulator and see how he feels under realistic constraints. "If he feels close to 100 percent, we will 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 percent." The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which takes place on Baku’s demanding street circuit, will start a day earlier than usual this year, with practice sessions scheduled for Wednesday and the race on Saturday.
It kicks off a three‑week sprint of back‑to‑back events, followed by races in Malaysia and Singapore. In the meantime, Lawson has stepped up from the sister team Racing Bulls to cover for Hadjar. The New Zealander previously enjoyed a brief two‑race stint with the senior Red Bull outfit at the start of the previous season, and he is now back in the seat that he briefly held.
His teammate at Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda, continues to race for the junior squad. Lawson’s performance has been impressive.
He has qualified eighth on two occasions and has scored points at both Zandvoort and the Madrid street circuit, 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 confidence has grown steadily at Racing Bulls over the past year, and he was already enjoying a consistent points‑scoring season before being called up to the senior Red Bull team on short notice. "I think he has continued to grow as a driver," Mekies added, noting that he has worked with Lawson at both Red Bull outfits. "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." The team principal emphasized that Lawson’s approach is based on fundamentals: "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." As the F1 calendar moves forward, fans can tune in to Sky Sports F1 for live coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which marks the start of a triple‑header weekend from 24 to 26 September.
The race will be broadcast on a Saturday, a slight deviation from the traditional Sunday slot, and can be streamed via NOW without a long‑term contract. The focus remains on ensuring Hadjar’s health is fully restored before any return, while Lawson continues to prove his adaptability and skill in the senior Red Bull car.