A Red Bull Reshuffle Could Put Zandvoort Under a Microscope

Red Bull may be preparing to change seats because a wrist has not recovered in time. Isack Hadjar is highly likely to miss the Dutch Grand Prix after sustaining a wrist injury in routine training, and the expected response would send Liam Lawson back alongside Max Verstappen while Yuki Tsunoda fills Lawson’s Racing Bulls seat.

The paperwork remains unfinished. Red Bull had not commented on the matter or formally confirmed Hadjar’s injury when the report was published, and neither replacement had been confirmed. Yet the likely arrangement matters because it would reunite Lawson with the senior team after a remarkably short spell there in 2025, while handing Tsunoda a chance to make a case for a full-time return to the grid in 2027.

This is not a conventional injury story in which a reserve simply covers a vacant car. It is a possible reshuffle involving drivers whose recent Red Bull histories are already connected, and it arrives at the first race after Formula 1’s summer break: a Sprint weekend at Zandvoort.

Hadjar’s likely absence interrupts a promising first campaign

Hadjar is 21 and has delivered a relatively strong first campaign for Red Bull following his promotion from Racing Bulls. With 11 of 23 scheduled rounds complete, he is eighth in the drivers’ standings while Verstappen is sixth. The report places Hadjar 41 points behind Verstappen.

That reported separation is not a complete verdict on either driver. Both have struggled to obtain strong results from Red Bull’s troublesome car. Still, Hadjar’s place in the team has looked sufficiently secure that he is expected to remain Verstappen’s team-mate next year.

That expectation gives the likely Zandvoort absence a different texture. This does not appear to be a contest for Hadjar’s longer-term seat. The immediate concern is fitness. He will have two further weeks to recover before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from September 4-6.

For Red Bull, then, the question is narrower and more revealing: who can be inserted for a Sprint weekend with the least disruption, and what will that choice say about the drivers already in its orbit?

Lawson would return with an unusually clear point to make

Lawson is expected to step up from Racing Bulls and partner Verstappen if Hadjar cannot race. It would be a return with awkward recent history attached.

The New Zealander was named as Sergio Perez’s replacement during the 2025 off-season, then dropped by Red Bull after two races. Tsunoda replaced him and spent the rest of that season alongside Verstappen. The abruptness of Lawson’s removal explains why any return to the senior car would draw attention beyond the usual substitute appearance.

Analysis has to stop short of calling it a trial or a route back to a permanent role; neither conclusion is established. A Dutch GP drive would, however, put Lawson in the Red Bull again after two 2025 races there. The team would have little time to make the change before a weekend containing a Sprint.

A Sprint format does not create a result by itself, nor does it tell us how Lawson would perform. It does make a late seat change more conspicuous. Every session is live from Friday, and the replacement would be operating in the car alongside Verstappen immediately.

Lawson’s opportunity is therefore defined less by promises than by visibility. He is expected to be the chosen stand-in, not yet confirmed as one. If the move is completed, meaningful comparison will follow with the team that moved him aside after two races in 2025.

Tsunoda’s possible Racing Bulls seat carries its own consequence

The expected chain does not end with Lawson. Tsunoda is set to deputise for him at Racing Bulls alongside Arvid Lindblad.

Tsunoda’s senior-team spell ran through the remainder of 2025 after he swapped seats with Lawson. He did not do enough to persuade Red Bull to retain him beyond the end of that season. A drive at Zandvoort could give the 26-year-old an opportunity to put himself in the shop window as he seeks a full-time return to the grid in 2027.

That phrase deserves its proper scale. An opportunity is not an assurance, and a drive cannot settle a future seat. Yet it is more than a logistical replacement if it gives Tsunoda race mileage at Racing Bulls when his stated objective is a full-time return.

The possible moves also expose the different forms of uncertainty around the drivers. Lawson’s expected promotion would return him to the team that removed him quickly in 2025. Tsunoda’s expected deputising role would provide an appearance from which he hopes to build towards 2027. Hadjar, meanwhile, is expected to remain Verstappen’s team-mate next year, even as injury may rule him out of the immediate weekend.

The Dutch Grand Prix is a short window, not a settled verdict

There is a temptation to inflate any Red Bull driver change into a declaration of intent. The available information points instead to a practical response to a likely injury absence. Hadjar has not been formally declared out. Red Bull has not formally confirmed the injury. Lawson’s step-up and Tsunoda’s deputising role are expected rather than announced.

Those distinctions matter. They prevent a temporary arrangement from being presented as a permanent reset, especially when Hadjar could have two further weeks to recover before Monza.

The story is still compelling without extra drama. Red Bull may need to cover a seat for the season’s return, and the likely solution would bring back a driver dropped after two races while offering another driver a chance to press his case for 2027. That is a concentrated set of stakes for the weekend.

Hadjar’s injury may prove brief. The decisions around the replacement could be brief too. Their value lies in what they reveal under pressure: which driver Red Bull expects to step into the senior car, and which driver is still being given a route to be seen on the grid.

What to watch if Red Bull confirms the change

First, confirmation itself. Until Red Bull comments, the report remains an expectation rather than an official team announcement.

Next, the exact allocation of cars. Lawson is expected to drive alongside Verstappen, with Tsunoda expected to join Lindblad at Racing Bulls. Confirmation would turn that projected driver chain into the central operational detail of the Dutch weekend.

Then comes Hadjar’s recovery timetable. He has two further weeks before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from September 4-6. The key issue is not speculation about a prolonged absence; it is whether that reported recovery window is enough for him to return at the next race.

The Dutch Grand Prix resumes the Formula 1 season after the summer break and is a Sprint weekend. In that setting, Red Bull’s likely contingency plan is not background administration. It is the story.

Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: Sky Sports' original report.