Isack Hadjar injury reality revealed by F1 champion after missing three races

Red Bull geeft update over Hadjar: beslissing over rentree in Bakoe nadert — Photo: © IMAGO

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Isack Hadjar injury reality revealed by F1 champion after missing three races

Hadjar has missed the last three F1 races

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 18 September 2026 17:33

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Nico Rosberg believes Isack Hadjar's wrist injury is an extremely difficult one to deal with as a Formula 1 driver.

Hadjar has missed the last three races for Red Bull after breaking his wrist while boxing and there is still no timeframe on when the French star can return to action.

In the meantime, Red Bull have promoted Liam Lawson back to the team to partner Max Verstappen, with Yuki Tsunoda returning from F1 exile to fill in for Lawson at his former Racing Bulls outfit.

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Famously, Lance Stroll battled back from broken wrists just before the 2023 season to feature from the start of the campaign for Aston Martin, but Rosberg believes Stroll's heroics don't hide the severe repercussions wrist injuries can have in relation to driving an F1 car.

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Rosberg: Hadjar injury very serious

The 2016 world champion outlined that driving an F1 car isn't just turning a wheel but putting force through your hands and wrists to stop you flying forward when braking in an F1 car, meaning Hadjar has to be sure his wrist has fully healed before returning.

Rosberg told Sky Sports: “It’s really horrible to drive with a wrist injury.

“We’ve seen Lance Stroll do that a few years ago, incredibly, and because of the G-forces and everything, it’s so extreme.

“And especially, what you don’t really think about is when you’re braking, you fly forwards in the seat belts, and you have to push against the steering wheel because otherwise your body just flies forwards, and you wouldn’t want to hang in the seat belt like that.

“So you’re pushing very hard against the steering wheel, which, if your wrist is broken, you can’t do that; you’ll be in too much pain.”

Red Bull told GPFans that Hadjar's 'recovery continues to progress positively' and that the team is looking forward to welcoming him back to the car.

Before his incident, Hadjar has enjoyed a solid first season at the team following his promotion from Racing Bulls after a strong F1 debut campaign.

Hadjar has a respectable 71 points in the championship compared to No.1 driver Verstappen's 145, and looks like finally ending Red Bull's search for a stable second driver to back up Verstappen.