– Liam Lawson gets another chance at Red Bull. The racing team from Milton Keynes officially confirmed on Wednesday that Isack Hadjar will also be unavailable for the Formula 1 race in Monza this weekend. The Frenchman had already missed the Grand Prix in Zandvoort two weeks earlier due to a hand injury.
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In a statement from the team it says: “Liam will start the Italian Grand Prix in Monza alongside Max, while Isack continues to make encouraging progress following the wrist injury he sustained during the summer break.”
“The team is closely monitoring his rehabilitation and will not take unnecessary risks when he returns to competition. We wish him a speedy recovery,” it says. It remains unclear when Hadjar will be able to get back in the car.
While Lawson will again be in the Red Bull for the Italian Grand Prix, reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda will take his place at the Racing Bulls alongside Formula 1 rookie Arvid Lindblad, as he did in the Netherlands.
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Lawson finished qualifying in Zandvoort in eighth place, just one position and 0.115 seconds behind Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull. He finished the race in seventh place after Verstappen retired early due to an accident.
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Team principal Laurent Mekies later explained on Sky that the New Zealander “got the best out of it” on his first outing in the Red Bull RB22 under the given circumstances. Seventh place in the race was “probably the maximum”.
Expert Ralf Schumacher also expects a good result from Lawson in Italy. In the podcast Backstage Boxengasse he explains: “Monza […] is not such a difficult track. That means it can be assumed that it will again be a track where he will be very close to Max Verstappen.”
Yuki Tsunoda finished eleventh in his Formula 1 comeback in the Netherlands and his first race ever under the completely new regulations. He finished one position ahead of teammate Lindblad but narrowly missed out on championship points.
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