Due to a wrist injury he suffered during the summer break, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar missed the Dutch Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix, and the Spanish Grand Prix.
But he has been cleared to return to competition this weekend at Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which is set to mark his first race in exactly two months.
Liam Lawson had gotten the call from sister team Racing Bulls to replace Hadjar alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull during Hadjar's extended absence, and he did a nice job filling in, placing seventh at Zandvoort and sixth at the Madring to score 14 points.
Red Bull, Racing Bulls adjust driver lineups in Baku
As for Racing Bulls, they called upon Red Bull reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda to join rookie Arvid Lindblad, and Tsunoda scored one point with his 10th place finish at Monza.
This weekend, with Hadjar set to return to Red Bull, Lawson is set to slide back into his usual Racing Bulls seat, while Tsunoda is set to return to the sideline.
Hadjar sits eighth in the world championship standings this season, even after missing three races. He had been on an impressive seven-race streak of top six finishes before his injury, a streak that included his second career podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix.
As for Lawson, he finds himself ninth in the standings, just 12 points behind Hadjar. As solid as they were, his numbers with Red Bull really weren't much different than his numbers this season with Racing Bulls. In 11 starts with the latter, he has racked up eight top nine finishes, including a top result of fifth in Monaco.
Make note of the fact that this weekend's race, the 15th of 23 on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 26, rather than Sunday, September 27. Live coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Baku City Circuit is set to be provided by Apple TV beginning at 6:55 a.m. ET.
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