Red Bull announce driver change for F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bull have announced a driver change for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Isack Hadjar making his return from injury in Baku.

The 21-year-old Frenchman has been out of action since missing the Dutch Grand Prix in August after sustaining a wrist injury during training.

Hadjar has been replaced alongside Max Verstappen by New Zealander Liam Lawson for the last three races, with Yuki Tsunoda replacing him at Racing Bulls.

Now, with Hadjar returning for Red Bull, Lawson reverts to Racing Bulls alongside young Brit Arvid Lindblad while Tsunoda misses out.

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Red Bull announce Hadjar return

Red Bull announced the news on Tuesday morning in an official statement which read: "Oracle Red Bull Racing is delighted to welcome Isack back this weekend. Having made a successful recovery from his wrist injury, Isack will return to action at the Baku City Circuit on Thursday.

"The team would like to sincerely thank Liam for his professionalism, dedication and hard work over the past three races, stepping in under challenging circumstances, he delivered some impressive performances and made a valuable contribution to the team. We wish him all the best as he returns to Visa Cash App Racing Bulls."

Hadjar had been enjoying a highly promising first season after moving in to Red Bull alongside Verstappen, and currently sits eighth in the Drivers' standings with 71 points.

As you will have likely noted from that Red Bull statement, things get under way early in Baku this week with the traditional schedule moved forward 24 hours.

Practice gets under way on Thursday (September 24) with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday September 26 to avoid a clash with the country's Remembrance Day on Sunday September 27.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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