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Hadjar out of Zandvoort: Lawson set for shock Red Bull recall at F1’s final Dutch GP

Liam Lawson is in line for a shock recall to Red Bull’s senior seat for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix after Isack Hadjar was sidelined by a wrist injury picked…

Rasmus Kristensen

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August 20, 2026

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Liam Lawson is set to line up alongside Max Verstappen at Zandvoort, back in the Red Bull car after just two grand prix starts in the senior seat at the start of 2025. The 24-year-old New Zealander steps up from Racing Bulls with Isack Hadjar ruled out by a wrist injury sustained in the final days of the summer break.

Racing Bulls has confirmed the switch to the New Zealand Herald, but the final call awaits a medical evaluation, and Red Bull has not yet made a formal announcement.

The recall gives Lawson a chance to rewrite the story he has been trying to forget.

“I spent two races there, and the way it all went down was just so crazy that I honestly was like, I’m just going to pretend I never even went there,” Lawson said earlier this year.

Tsunoda back on the grid

Yuki Tsunoda is set to slot into the vacant Racing Bulls seat alongside Arvid Lindblad. The Japanese driver was dropped from Red Bull at the end of 2025 in favour of Hadjar, and has spent 2026 as Red Bull’s test and reserve driver, on standby to cover any of the four seats across the two teams.

Lawson arrives from the best half-season of his career. He sits ninth in the drivers’ standings on 43 points, the highest of any driver outside the four leading teams.

A farewell weekend for Zandvoort

Sunday’s race is Formula 1’s last on the Zandvoort schedule; the Dutch Grand Prix will not appear on the 2027 calendar.

For Verstappen, the four-time world champion racing at home for the last time on the current schedule, the weekend was already loaded. It now comes with a mid-season teammate swap and a substitute who has not driven the senior car in a race since the opening rounds of 2025.

The Sprint format compresses the running. Free practice and Sprint qualifying open on Friday, the Sprint runs on Saturday, and lights out for the grand prix is at 3pm local time on Sunday.