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Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has revealed that he only learned of Isack Hadjar’s wrist injury late in the week before the 2026 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, forcing the team into a rapid driver reshuffle at Zandvoort.
Hadjar, who had impressed for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit during the season, attended the event but could not drive the RB22 after sustaining the injury while training during Formula 1’s summer break. Liam Lawson was called up from sister team Racing Bulls to replace him at Red Bull, leaving the Faenza-based operation to find its own solution for the weekend.
The answer was Yuki Tsunoda, who was placed back in an F1 car despite never having driven the current generation of machinery. Bayer said he was informed of Hadjar’s situation late the previous week, with the final decision on the weekend line-up taken on Tuesday.
“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.”
He described the response as a familiar operational process once the problem had emerged. “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.”
Bayer explained that the biggest practical challenge was rearranging Tsunoda’s travel and preparation schedule. The Japanese driver had to return from Greece and spend time in the simulator before taking on the RB22 at Zandvoort.
“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,” he explained.
The late call-up ultimately produced a competitive result. Tsunoda’s rapid adaptation at Zandvoort was also noted in Racing Bulls’ assessment of his return.
Max Verstappen said he was not informed of Hadjar’s injury until Tuesday. Nevertheless, the Red Bull driver offered his support and hoped the youngster would recover quickly and return to the grid alongside him.
“I also got the news only on Tuesday,” Verstappen confirmed. “I hope, of course, that he can recover quickly with the rest.”
Verstappen also acknowledged the difficulty facing Lawson, who had to enter a sprint weekend with only a single practice session available. Lawson nevertheless finished seventh, becoming the solitary RB22 on track after Verstappen crashed out of his final home race.
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