September 26 is the date circled at Red Bull
A third race gone. Isack Hadjar sits out the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid this weekend, with the wrist he hurt over the summer still not right.
Red Bull has the plan drawn up: back in the car for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 26.
Laurent Mekies made the call without much agonising. “It was an easy decision,” the team boss told Sky Sports. “He was not at 100%, and that is the only box we care about. Are you at 100%? So it was an easy one for here.” Rushing him, Mekies added, was never on the table: “We have always said we would prioritise getting him back at 100%. There was no sense in throwing him onto a track like this, not feeling right, and potentially slowing down his full recovery.”
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Lawson gets another weekend next to Verstappen
Liam Lawson keeps the seat in Madrid. The New Zealander lines up alongside four-time world champion Max Verstappen again, and he knows the routine by now after filling in for the last two rounds.
Red Bull is counting on the two-week gap that follows Spain. “We have a bit more time before Baku,” Mekies said. “Honestly, there is nothing unusual in his recovery. It is going as expected. Some things take time, and we will take the time to assess him before Baku and put him in the simulator.”
That simulator run is the gate. A long session with the wrist holding up, and Azerbaijan is on.
Three top fives, and a summer that got in the way
Hadjar picked up the injury training during the break. Bad luck, badly timed. The 21-year-old had been building a serious second season.
Three top-five finishes in 11 starts, eighth in the drivers’ standings. Miss races in a championship where sixth through 10th is separated by scraps, and the bill arrives fast.
Baku ought to suit him. The street circuit pays for precision and charges heavily for anything loose near the walls. He has to get there first, with a wrist that can take a bumpy lap.
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