Isack Hadjar is set to miss the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend after sustaining a wrist injury.
The Frenchman, who recorded his only F1 podium at last year’s race in Zandvoort, looks likely to be absent for Formula 1’s return race after the summer break due to the injury.
It is understood that Kiwi racer Liam Lawson would be the likeliest candidate to step up from Racing Bulls to replace Hadjar and be Max Verstappen’s teammate for the upcoming weekend.
That would mean Yuki Tsunoda, dropped from Red Bull’s staple of grid drivers last year but the team’s reserve driver, would return to partner Arvid Lindblad in the junior team’s garage.
Red Bull have been approached for comment.
It is a bitter blow for 21-year-old Hadjar, who was promoting a special race helmet for the final Dutch race as recently as Monday.
It remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to race at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in two weeks.
Hadjar is currently eighth in the drivers’ standings, 24 points off Oscar Piastri in seventh and 51 points behind teammate Verstappen in sixth.
Verstappen is targeting his fourth home win at what will be the final iteration of the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, which will also host a sprint race for the first time.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has a 50-point lead in the standings ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
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