Isack Hadjar Red Bull absence could be 'much longer than expected'

Are you enjoying seeing Yuki Tsunoda back behind the wheel of an F1 car? Well, there good news for you: he might be there for a little bit longer.

The popular Japanese driver has been filling in for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls for the last three races, with the New Zealander stepping back up to Red Bull to temporarily replace the injured Isack Hadjar.

Tsunoda has acquitted himself reasonably well despite the lack of time to get used to driving the much-changed 2026 spec cars, picking up his first point of the season at Monza to go above Lance Stroll and both Cadillac drivers in the championship standings.

Beatrice Frangione, a journalist for the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, revealed before the Spanish Grand Prix weekend that there are fears that Hadjar’s recovery from his wrist injury could take ‘much longer than expected’.

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Hadjar status for Baku in doubt

That would obviously be bad news for him and his team, who have not officially finalised their 2027 lineup yet.

Hadjar is widely expected to be signed up for a second season alongside Max Verstappen despite the time missed due to his injury, after impressing throughout his maiden season with the senior team.

Frangione said earlier this week: “Paddock rumours speak of a torn tendon issue, and when there is an injury of this type, recovery is certainly much longer than expected, but obviously we hope he returns to his seat beside Max as soon as possible.”

Red Bull declined to comment on the rumours when contacted by GPFans this week, with a decision to be made before cars hit the track again at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next Thursday in Baku.

Mekies: We won't rush Hadjar recovery timeline

Team principal Laurent Mekies did discuss his driver's status briefly in Madrid, saying: “Isack is good, he's downstairs right now. Joke aside, 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, so we will continue with the same approach than what we had.

“We will evaluate the situations in a week's time. We have a bit more than a full week to evaluate the situations, to see how he feels, and then to put him on the simulator, to expose him to real-life constraints.

“If he feels close to 100%, we go for it; if he feels the recovery is not completed, we will stick on our approach to 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%.”

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