Five weeks after he broke his wrist on a punching bag, Isack Hadjar is back in a Red Bull car. Red Bull confirmed today that he'll drive from FP1 on Thursday. Which means three drivers go back to where they were.
Hadjar passed a final simulator assessment, testing his wrist under realistic steering and braking loads, plus medical clearance. Mekies had one criterion and said that Isack needed to be 100% before he could be back out on track.
Hadjar said himself that "it was important not to rush the decision and now I feel ready to get back to what I do best: driving. Baku is a unique circuit and one you need to be locked in for from the very start of the weekend."
And that's the catch: his first race back in nearly two months is at one of the hardest and most dangerous tracks to drive.
As for Lawson, he was seventh at Zandvoort, fourteenth at Monza, and sixth at Madrid, his best Red Bull finish. Red Bull thanked him for his "professionalism, dedication and hard work," and said he delivered impressive performances under challenging circumstances. Now he returns to Racing Bulls, and he'd already said it would be tough because the cars are completely different to drive.
Tsunoda is going back as a reserve driver for Red Bull. He put up an awesome performance after being back on the grid for three races and scoring a point in Monza.
Still, contracts are not settled. Lawson's contract still only covers 2026, and Hadjar's as well. Tsolov is still leading F2, so he's a contender for one of the spots too. The five-drivers-three-seats problem hasn't gone away just yet. It just went back to starting position.
Everyone's back where they were in August. The difference is that Red Bull knows how much Lawson has changed, making him a contender for a 2027 seat.