Lawson is taking Hadjar's seat at Zandvoort, but it's just a one-off
Red Bull
The context of Liam Lawson‘s return to Red Bull for a one-off at the Dutch Grand Prix is very easy to read too much into given the moment it arrives.
The Kiwi has been called up to replace the injured Isack Hadjar at Zandvoort, a move which is, on paper, a chance to write a different ending to a story that finished poorly for him some 18 months ago.
The circumstances of the whole thing are almost too neat.
Hadjar picked up a wrist injury in training over the summer break, and Red Bull has turned to Lawson rather than reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda to fill in at Zandvoort, the same circuit where Lawson made his Formula 1 debut in 2023, when he stood in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri after the Australian had broken his hand in a Friday practice crash.
Three years later, a different injury has put Lawson back in a top Red Bull seat at the same track.
Three years after his F1 debut, Lawson is back in the spotlight at Zandvoort
Red Bull
It is a tidy piece of symmetry, and it will inevitably shape a lot of the coverage this weekend and the following weeks given Red Bull is yet to announce its full 2027 line-up.
But before anyone gets carried away with the idea that Lawson is auditioning his way back into Red Bull’s plans, it is worth examining whether any of this actually matters, as it feels it would be a mistake to read it as a genuine second chance.
Starting with what this actually is, Hadjar’s injury is not believed to be serious, and Red Bull is said to be hopeful he will be fit to return at Monza in two weeks’ time.
Barring a major setback, this is a one-race loan, not an audition with a top seat at the end of it.
Lawson knows the feeling well: he has started races for the senior team in an ill-fated stint at the start of 2025 before Tsunoda was brought in to replace him after just two rounds.
That painful demotion is central to why this weekend carries so little real weight for Lawson’s future.
Lawson has been the stronger of the two Racing Bulls drivers
At the time of his demotion, reports suggested the decision to drop him after only two races was influenced not purely by his form but by commercial factors connected to Honda.
That doesn’t mean Lawson performed brilliantly in those two races either; but it does mean a strong showing at Zandvoort cannot really answer a question that was never purely about performance in the first place.
Those were also different times at Red Bull, where Christian Horner was still the boss, and even Lawson himself admitted later that he pretended the demotion never really happened.
If Lawson genuinely wants to show Red Bull he is a different driver, he has arguably already been doing that all year in 2026 at Racing Bulls, not at Zandvoort.
The New Zealander sits ninth in the championship, leading his highly rated rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad by a healthy margin at the season’s halfway point, and has been the more consistent points-scorer of the pair.
That, not a one-off in an unfamiliar car, is the body of evidence that should matter to Red Bull: half a season of data.
There is also an uncomfortable comparison with Hadjar, who has quietly had an excellent season alongside Verstappen, having not only strung together a run of seven consecutive points finishes before his injury, but also showing that the second Red Bull isn’t necessarily cursed.
Based on performance alone, Hadjar is not a driver whose seat looks remotely vulnerable.
Lawson has scored 43 points so far in 2026
Grand Prix Photo
If anything, it underlines how high the bar now sits at Red Bull, and how little a one-off stand-in performance – however good – would do to threaten it.
Even in the most flattering scenario – Lawson qualifies well, has a clean race and exceeds expectations against Verstappen at a circuit he knows intimately – it is hard to see a path from that to Red Bull reconsidering its line-up.
On Thursday, Red Bull removed any lingering doubts about Verstappen’s future as he signed a contract extension keeping him at the team until the end of 2030.
That closed off speculation about a possible departure that had built up around exit clauses tied to his championship position.
The fact that Red Bull has managed to convince Verstappen to stay on means there is a lot less pressure on the team to find a new star driver, and so Hadjar should be an easy choice for 2027 should he keep performing.
There is no seat for Lawson to win at Red Bull, and the job he’s already done at Racing Bulls should be more than enough to prove he deserves that drive.
Lawson’s first Red Bull spell lasted two weekends
Grand Prix Photo
Lawson’s outing is still an opportunity to remind people he exists at the top level, which is not nothing, particularly if he ends up needing to find a drive elsewhere.
A strong weekend would be good for Lawson’s morale and a feel-good story given how brutally his first Red Bull stint ended.
While the Zandvoort outing may not be key to Lawson’s future with Red Bull, it doesn’t mean that the Kiwi is in a comfortable position in his negotiations with the company.
Red Bull, through former advisor and talent spotter Helmut Marko, bet on Lindblad for this year, and the bet appears to be paying off, as the 19-year-old has done well against his more experienced team-mate.
If he keeps progressing, there is every reason to believe he will secure another contract to stay at Racing Bulls in 2027, shifting the focus to the other side of the garage.
In that sense, Lawson’s own future is arguably more exposed than people may realise.
Tsolov has been impressive in F2 this year
Red Bull
Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov is leading the F2 standings and reports have already linked him to Lawson’s own seat there for 2027.
That is arguably a more relevant threat to Lawson’s drive right now than anything that happens at Zandvoort this weekend.
We haven’t seen the full workings of the Red Bull junior programme since Marko left, but if history is anything to go by, the company will be keen to promote a promising young driver as soon as possible, even at the expense of having to drop a driver who has been consistently doing a solid job.
In that respect, Lawson’s Dutch GP outing could be more an audition for another team than for his own squad.
None of this is to say Lawson’s weekend won’t be worth following closely, or that the narrative writes itself in an unflattering way.
A capacity crowd every year, the sport’s biggest star, and the most sustainable event haven’t been enough to keep Zandvoort on the F1 calendar. The Dutch Grand Prix’s demise carries some uncomfortable truths
Lawson has genuine reason to feel he was hard done by in 2025, and there is something rewarding about him getting to drive a Red Bull again, at the scene of his debut, without much to lose.
If he does well, it will be a feel-good story, but it’s unlikely to show Red Bull much it hasn’t already seen.
If he struggles, it will not tell anyone much either, given the short notice and the unfamiliar car.
Lawson’s return to Red Bull is a good story, but it’s risky to try to read too much into it.
The uncomfortable truth for anyone hoping this is Lawson’s route back into Red Bull’s senior team is that it almost certainly isn’t.
His actual case for a future at either Red Bull-owned team was always going to be made across a full season at Racing Bulls, and Tsolov’s growing shadow could mean not even that proves to be the case at the pressure cooker that is Red Bull.
For Lawson and everybody watching, Zandvoort is a fun subplot. It’s unlikely to be the deciding chapter.
