Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has revealed the timeline behind Isack Hadjar's wrist injury that has ruled the Frenchman out of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen has expressed his hope that his Red Bull team-mate can recover quickly.
Hadjar fractured his wrist while training during the summer break, with the 21-year-old forced to sit out a race at the very circuit where he secured his maiden Formula 1 podium last year. That third-place finish at Zandvoort in 2025, while still racing for Racing Bulls, proved a breakthrough moment in Hadjar's career.
Liam Lawson has stepped into the RB22 alongside Verstappen. Yuki Tsunoda, who departed Racing Bulls at the end of last season, has returned to deputise in the VCARB 03 alongside Arvid Lindblad.
The New Zealander is no stranger to late call-ups at Zandvoort, having made his F1 debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2023 as a substitute for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at the then-AlphaTauri team.
Bayer explained to media, including RacingNews365, how events unfolded behind the scenes once news of Hadjar's injury reached him.
"It was late last week when I learned about the injury," Bayer said. "Then, obviously, the phone started ringing, a couple of phone calls, and then Tuesday the decision was taken on how we will go into this weekend.
"In terms of changes, honestly, I think as much as we do not like these things to happen, once it happens, we know what to do. You follow sort of the 'check book', I guess."
Referring to Tsunoda's well-documented holiday in Greece, which was cut short for the Japanese driver, he added: "The biggest change really was for Yuki's travel plans, to get him back from Greece and into the simulator, to give him the biggest support we can."
Verstappen, who will race in front of his home crowd for the final time this weekend, confirmed he only learned of the situation on Tuesday.
"I also got the news only on Tuesday," the 71-time grand prix winner said. "I hope, of course, that he can recover quickly with the rest.
"And for Liam to jump in, it doesn't help that it's a sprint weekend, but I saw him quickly at the simulator as well, so I hope that he got all the preparation that was possible in and that it's going to be, let's say, hopefully a more straightforward weekend."
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