Red Bull Retains Liam Lawson for Monza Amid Isack Hadjar's Recovery

Red Bull has handed Liam Lawson another chance to impress on motorsport’s biggest stage, confirming the New Zealander will stay alongside Max Verstappen for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The call comes after days of monitoring Isack Hadjar’s fitness, with the Frenchman still not cleared to return following the wrist injury he suffered over the summer break. Red Bull waited as long as it could before locking in its line-up, but the medical verdict left little room for debate: Hadjar sits out again.

Lawson, meanwhile, gets the kind of continuity young drivers crave.

Thrown in late at Zandvoort as Hadjar’s stand-in, Lawson delivered under pressure. He qualified eighth in the RB22 and converted that into seventh place on race day, banking his first points finish with the Milton Keynes outfit after last year’s brief cameo. It was a tidy, composed performance that did not go unnoticed in the paddock.

He stayed busy straight after, too. Lawson remained in the cockpit for Pirelli tyre testing at Mugello, helping evaluate prototype compounds for the 2027 season. For a reserve driver trying to force his way into long‑term plans, that kind of extra mileage is gold dust.

Hadjar, by contrast, has been visible but not yet fully functional. He was seen at the FFSA French Junior Karting Championship late last week, still wearing a wrist brace, a clear sign that his recovery has not quite reached race-ready status. Red Bull stretched the decision as close to Monza as possible, hoping for a late green light. It never came.

So the team turned to stability.

“Liam will drive alongside Max at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, while Isack continues to make encouraging progress following the wrist injury sustained during the summer break,” Red Bull said in a statement. “The Team is closely monitoring his rehabilitation and will take no unnecessary risks with his return to competition and wishes him a speedy recovery.”

The message is firm: no gambles with a young driver’s long-term health, no matter how tempting a quick return might be.

Across the garage divide, the wider Red Bull camp also keeps its reshuffled look. Reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda, who stepped in at Racing Bulls at Zandvoort alongside Arvid Lindblad, will stay in that seat for Monza. It means both Red Bull-owned teams head into one of the calendar’s most historic weekends with stand-ins still auditioning for future roles.

Monza, with its flat‑out straights and unforgiving spotlight, is no place to hide. Lawson has earned a second shot. What he does with it in front of the tifosi could shape the next chapter of his Formula 1 story—and, quietly, Hadjar’s as well.