Isack Hadjar will miss the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix after sustaining a wrist injury during a gym training session over the Formula 1 summer break. The Red Bull driver will not take part in any session at Zandvoort, creating an unfortunate parallel with Daniel Ricciardo’s injury during the same event in 2023.
The special helmet livery designed for Isack Hadjar ahead of the final Dutch Grand Prix will therefore not be used on track. Further information has emerged about the training session behind Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury, which has forced Red Bull to reorganise its driver line-ups for the weekend.
Liam Lawson will replace Isack Hadjar alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, while Yuki Tsunoda will return to Racing Bulls to partner Arvid Lindblad. The reshuffle adds another storyline to a demanding 2026 Dutch GP Sprint weekend, during which the teams will have only one practice session before competitive running begins.
Isack Hadjar’s Dutch GP absence recalls Daniel Ricciardo crash
Isack Hadjar is not the first driver in recent years to be ruled out of the Dutch Grand Prix by a physical problem. Daniel Ricciardo suffered the same fate at Zandvoort in 2023, although the circumstances surrounding the Australian driver’s absence were very different.
Unlike Isack Hadjar, who will not participate in any part of the 2026 weekend, Daniel Ricciardo completed the opening two practice sessions for AlphaTauri, now known as Racing Bulls. During FP2, however, Daniel Ricciardo lost control at Turn 3 while trying to avoid the crashed McLaren of fellow Australian Oscar Piastri and hit the barriers.
After climbing out of the cockpit, Daniel Ricciardo was visibly in pain and appeared to be protecting his left arm. Initial concerns that he could be declared unfit to race were confirmed after medical examinations revealed a fractured metacarpal in his left hand.
Liam Lawson received his first F1 opportunity at Zandvoort
The injury forced Daniel Ricciardo to miss the Dutch Grand Prix and the following four rounds. It was a particularly frustrating setback because Daniel Ricciardo had only returned as a full-time Formula 1 driver two races earlier, replacing Nyck de Vries after his McLaren career had ended at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
AlphaTauri promoted reserve driver Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2023 Zandvoort weekend, handing the New Zealander his Formula 1 debut. Three years later, the situation has come full circle, with Liam Lawson again receiving a Dutch GP call-up following an injury to another Red Bull driver.
Liam Lawson impressed during his 2023 substitute appearances, finishing ninth in Singapore to score his first Formula 1 points. Liam Lawson also narrowly missed the top 10 on two other occasions, taking 11th place at both Monza and Suzuka.
Yuki Tsunoda’s temporary return to Racing Bulls completes the latest reshuffle. Isack Hadjar offered the Japanese driver a brief good-luck message before the weekend, telling Yuki Tsunoda to “Have fun bro” ahead of his unexpected Formula 1 comeback.
Kimi Räikkönen also missed the Dutch GP in 2021
Even before the absences of Isack Hadjar and Daniel Ricciardo, another driver had been forced to miss the Dutch Grand Prix when Zandvoort returned to the Formula 1 calendar in 2021.
Kimi Räikkönen did not race for Alfa Romeo after testing positive for COVID-19. Unlike Isack Hadjar and Daniel Ricciardo, the Finnish driver was not sidelined by an injury, but the team was still required to call upon a replacement at short notice.
Robert Kubica stepped into the Alfa Romeo, making his first Formula 1 race appearance since the end of the 2019 season. The three cases underline Zandvoort’s unusual recent history of late driver changes, with Isack Hadjar now joining Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen among those forced to watch the Dutch Grand Prix from the sidelines.
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