Injured Hadjar misses Monza as Lawson keeps Red Bull seat for Italian GP

Isack Hadjar will miss this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza after Red Bull confirmed the 21-year-old Frenchman has not recovered sufficiently from a wrist fracture sustained during a boxing session in Formula 1’s summer break. Liam Lawson will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull for a second successive race, with Yuki Tsunoda again slotting back into the Racing Bulls car alongside Arvid Lindblad.

Hadjar’s injury first ruled him out of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where Lawson — a Racing Bulls regular — was promoted to the Red Bull RB22 and reserve driver Tsunoda was recalled to fill the vacant VCARB 03 seat. Red Bull had hoped Hadjar would be fit in time for Monza but opted against rushing him back, with both Red Bull-owned teams now confirming unchanged line-ups for the Italian round.

“It’s good to hear Isack is recovering well and is back in the car soon, but it’s great to have another weekend with the team,” Lawson said in a statement released by Red Bull. “Zandvoort gave me a really useful first reference in the car, and having a full sprint weekend behind me means I’m coming into Monza with a much better understanding of the car and what I need from it. It’s a completely different track, and there’ll be new challenges, but I’m looking forward to building on the last weekend with the team and seeing what we can do.”

Both stand-ins impressed in the Netherlands. Lawson qualified eighth and finished seventh in the Red Bull, while Tsunoda narrowly missed the points in 11th — both drivers matching their respective team-mates closely on single-lap pace.

Separately, Red Bull reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa will take the wheel of Verstappen’s car during the first free practice session at Monza, fulfilling one of the team’s four mandatory rookie outings required across the season.