Red Bull Confirm Driver Shuffle Ahead of Dutch Grand Prix

(Photo by Formula 1)

Red Bull have confirmed a driver reshuffle ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, with Isack Hadjar ruled out after suffering a wrist injury during the summer break. Liam Lawson will temporarily step up from Racing Bulls to replace him alongside Max Verstappen, while reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda will fill Lawson’s seat at Racing Bulls for the weekend.

On paper, it is a fairly straightforward case of one driver replacing another.

But this is Red Bull. And somehow, even an injury replacement has turned into one of the more interesting storylines heading into Zandvoort.

For Lawson, it is another chance with the team that previously dropped him after just two races. For Tsunoda, it is an unexpected one-race return after spending this season as a reserve driver. And for Hadjar, it is a frustrating interruption to what has been a hugely important first season with the senior team.

The changes are temporary, but that doesn’t mean they are insignificant.

Lawson’s Second Chance

Let’s start with the obvious one: Liam Lawson is back in a Red Bull.

The last time Lawson was promoted to the senior team, things did not exactly go to plan. He replaced Sergio Perez at the beginning of 2025 but struggled during the opening two rounds and was sent back to Racing Bulls, with Tsunoda then taking his place.

It was a pretty brutal introduction to life at Red Bull.

Since then, Lawson has had considerably more time to develop. He has spent the 2026 season racing for Racing Bulls, gaining experience and, importantly, getting a proper run of races under his belt. His season has also been enough to keep him firmly within Red Bull’s plans, rather than disappearing from the picture after his demotion.

That makes this opportunity different.

This isn’t the same Lawson who walked into the Red Bull garage in 2025. He has had time to understand where he needed to improve, establish himself within Racing Bulls, and gain more experience with the current generation of cars.

Of course, nobody is expecting Lawson to suddenly go wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen.

That would be an incredibly high bar.

What Red Bull will want to see is whether he can look comfortable in the car, manage the pressure and extract the kind of performance that made them promote him in the first place.

And that is where this gets interesting.

Hadjar’s return remains the plan once he is fit, but a strong weekend from Lawson would still be valuable. Formula 1 is an incredibly fast-moving sport, and drivers can change perceptions surprisingly quickly. Lawson doesn’t need to win. He just needs to show that he isn’t the same driver Red Bull gave up on in 2025.

This is his second chance. He really cannot ask for a better opportunity to show how much he has changed since the first one.

A Familiar Circuit, A Very Different Opportunity

There is another reason Zandvoort makes this reshuffle particularly interesting: all three drivers have their own history at the circuit.

For Lawson, Zandvoort is where his Formula 1 career really began. He made his debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2023 after Daniel Ricciardo suffered a wrist injury, immediately being thrown into one of the most challenging weekends imaginable for a rookie.

He finished 13^th.

Now, three years later, Lawson returns to the same circuit – but this time in a Red Bull.

It is a very different opportunity, but there is something rather fitting about the fact that the circuit where his F1 career started is now giving him another shot at the senior team.

Tsunoda also knows his way around Zandvoort. The Japanese driver has raced at the circuit throughout his F1 career and has had some strong performances there, making this far from an entirely unfamiliar environment when he climbs back into the Racing Bulls. That could be important.

Unlike a rookie making his first appearance, Tsunoda already knows the circuit, the team and the demands of a Grand Prix weekend. The bigger question is how quickly he can get back into the rhythm of racing after spending the first half of this season on the sidelines.

And then there is Hadjar.

Zandvoort holds a particularly important place in his career. It was here in 2025 that Hadjar secured his first Formula 1 podium, finishing third for Racing Bulls and producing one of the standout performances of his rookie season.

It was one of the weekends that helped make the case for his eventual promotion to Red Bull.

Now, ironically, the same circuit where he achieved his first podium just last year will be the one where he has to watch his Red Bull car from the sidelines.

Three drivers. One circuit. Three very different stories.

And all of them have something to prove.

Tsunoda’s Unexpected Comeback

While Lawson’s promotion is likely to dominate the headlines, Tsunoda’s return is arguably the more unexpected part of this whole situation. And to be clear, this isn’t a permanent return.

Tsunoda is stepping in as a reserve driver for one weekend, filling Lawson’s Racing Bulls seat while he moves up. Once Hadjar is fit to return, the usual line-up is expected to be restored.

But that doesn’t make the opportunity meaningless. Far from it.

After losing his full-time Red Bull seat to Hadjar for 2026, Tsunoda has spent the season away from the regular F1 grid. Now, thanks to a chain reaction caused by Hadjar’s injury, he suddenly has another chance to get behind the wheel.

And perhaps that is exactly why this weekend could be so interesting for him.

Tsunoda has already spent years in Formula 1. He has raced alongside Verstappen. He has experienced the pressure of the Red Bull programme. He knows what it takes to compete at this level.

He isn’t coming back to learn what Formula 1 is. He’s coming back with something to prove. There is also a rather amusing circularity to the whole situation. Tsunoda replaced Lawson at Red Bull in 2025. Now Lawson has moved back to Red Bull, while Tsunoda takes his place at Racing Bulls.

It is almost as though Red Bull has pressed rewind.

The difference this time is that Tsunoda knows exactly how temporary this opportunity is. He has one race weekend to get back up to speed, work alongside Arvid Lindblad and show what he still can do.

If he pulls together a strong weekend, people will notice.

If he struggles, there is no guarantee another opportunity like this will come along.

For a driver who has already lost his full-time seat, that makes this one weekend surprisingly important.

What About Hadjar?

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement surrounding Lawson’s return and Tsunoda’s unexpected appearance, but there is one person who probably isn’t particularly excited about this weekend.

Isack Hadjar.

The Frenchman has been forced to sit out the Dutch Grand Prix after suffering a wrist injury during training over the summer break. Red Bull have wished him a speedy recovery, with the expectation that this is a temporary absence rather than a change to his position within the team.

And that distinction is important. This is not a performance-related change.

Hadjar earned his promotion to Red Bull after an impressive spell with Racing Bulls, and his seat has not suddenly been handed to Lawson because the team has lost faith in him. He’s injured – that’s it.

The frustrating part is the timing. Hadjar has been given one of the biggest opportunities of his young career, racing alongside Verstappen and establishing himself in a senior Red Bull seat, only to have that momentum interrupted.

And while Lawson’s performance will inevitably be compared to Hadjar’s, it would be unfair to make too much of a one-race substitution. If Lawson has a brilliant weekend, that doesn’t suddenly make Hadjar a worse driver. If Lawson struggles, it doesn’t suddenly validate Hadjar either.

For Hadjar, the priority is simply getting back to full fitness and returning to the car.

Especially after his podium at this very circuit last year, sitting this one out must be particularly frustrating.

Why Lawson? Red Bull’s Other Options

Personally, I think Lawson is the right choice.

Not necessarily because he is Red Bull’s best driver outside of Verstappen, but because he is the most logical driver to put into the car right now.

He is already racing. He knows the current Red Bull machinery. He has spent the season with Racing Bulls, and unlike some of the other names in Red Bull’s junior program, doesn’t need to be thrown into an F1 car completely cold.

But Red Bull did have other options.

Yuki Tsunoda

The most obvious alternative would have been Yuki Tsunoda. As the team’s reserve driver and a former Red Bull Racing driver, Tsunoda arguably has the strongest case. He knows the team, knows the car and has already experienced the pressure of being Verstappen’s teammate. Had Red Bull chosen him, Lawson could simply have remained at Racing Bulls, and the rest of the line up would remain unchanged.

Arvid Lindblad

He’s already racing for Racing Bulls and is one of Red Bull’s most highly rated young drivers. Promoting him would have been a much bigger gamble, but it would have also given the team a chance to see how an exciting young prospect handles the pressure of a Red Bull seat. Personally, though, I think it’s too early. There’s no reason to rush Lindblad into the senior team for a single race when he is already developing perfectly well where he is.

Ayumu Iwasa

He has been a part of the Red Bull program for years and has F1 testing and practice experience, so he isn’t completely unfamiliar with the machinery. However, Lawson’s advantage is his recent race experience. If you’re choosing a driver at short notice, I’d rather have the one who has been competing every weekend.

Nikola Tsolov

The wildcard. He’s another Red Bull junior who has been making an impression but throwing him straight into the Red Bull alongside Verstappen would be an enormous task. Potentially exciting? Absolutely. The right decision for a one race substitution? Probably not.

Most importantly, this is only a temporary replacement. Red Bull don’t need to find their next star. They need someone who can get into the car this weekend and do the job.

Lawson ticks those boxes.

What Should We Watch at Zandvoort?

Suddenly, there are plenty of things to watch beyond the usual Verstappen home race storyline.

Lawson vs Verstappen

This is obviously the big one.

How quickly can Lawson adapt to the Red Bull, and how large will the gap to Verstappen be? He doesn’t need to match his teammate, but a comfortable and competitive weekend would go a long way towards proving that his first Red Bull stint doesn’t tell the whole story.

Tsunoda vs Lindblad

Tsunoda’s one-race return will also give us an interesting benchmark. He has the experience advantage, but Lindblad has been racing throughout the entirety of this season.

Can Tsunoda immediately get back up to speed?

And can he show the kind of pace that made Red Bull confident enough to put him in the senior team in the first place?

Can Lawson make this opportunity count?

Perhaps this is the biggest question of all.

This isn’t necessarily about keeping Hadjar’s seat. But it is about what Lawson does when Red Bull finally gives him another chance.

If he performs, people will notice. And Red Bull will certainly be watching.

A Temporary Shuffle With Plenty at Stake

It is quite remarkable how much one injury has changed the storyline heading into the Dutch Grand Prix.

Hadjar has been forced to watch from the sidelines just as he was settling into his opportunity with Red Bull. Lawson has suddenly been given another go. And Tsunoda, who had been preparing for another weekend from the garage, is suddenly back behind the wheel – even if only for one race.

Three drivers with three very different situations.

For a driver swap that was never supposed to happen, there is suddenly quite a lot to watch at Zandvoort.

Written by Eszter Szalontai