Liam Lawson has delivered his strongest result since returning to Red Bull, finishing sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix as uncertainty continues over whether Isack Hadjar will be fit to return in Azerbaijan.
The Kiwi made his third consecutive appearance alongside Max Verstappen in Madrid after Hadjar remained sidelined by the wrist injury he suffered while training during Formula 1’s summer break.
After scoring points with seventh at Zandvoort and enduring a difficult weekend at Monza, Lawson bounced back with sixth at the new Madring circuit to make it two points finishes from three starts during his latest Red Bull stint.
Madrid offered few opportunities to make progress on track, but Lawson was one of the drivers able to pull off an overtake, making an aggressive move on Franco Colapinto.
His hard-tyre strategy was complicated by the timing of a Virtual Safety Car, before a late stop helped him complete another strong showing for the senior team.
“Hard to overtake is really the biggest thing. We started on the hard [tyre] as well and with the Virtual Safety Car, it didn’t really help us,” Lawson told F1 TV.
“Made quite a risky pass on Franco [Colapinto] earlier on and felt like it was going to be really important for our race, but then the VSC came out, and they boxed anyway, so it didn’t really make a difference.
“Was quite fun to do, but this track is very difficult to pull it off [an overtake]. I didn’t nearly make the corner, and if you do track limits, you have to give the place back. Tough race.”
Despite missing out on points at Monza following an engine penalty and race damage, Lawson believes his three weekends back with Red Bull have shown encouraging progress.
“It’s been overall quite positive; managed to score in two of the three. Monza was tough, with the whole layout of the weekend, the engine penalty, and then obviously having damage in the race really ruined it for us.
“But I think overall we’ve had good speed. This weekend was the first time where I felt like we could really fight in qualifying and fight at the front. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it together in Q3, but we had good speed, so it’s got better each weekend.”
Attention now turns to whether Lawson will remain in the Red Bull for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hadjar returned to the paddock in Madrid but was not ready to race, extending his absence to three consecutive Grands Prix.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has said the team intends to give Hadjar as much recovery time as possible before deciding on his return.
Unconfirmed speculation has also circulated in the paddock that the Frenchman’s injury could include tendon damage alongside his wrist fracture.
Italian Motorsport.com journalist Beatrice Frangione said rumours surrounding the injury suggested Hadjar could face a longer recovery if the additional damage proves to be accurate.
“Paddock rumours speak of a torn tendon issue, and when there is an injury of this type, recovery is certainly much longer than expected, but obviously we hope he returns to his seat beside Max as soon as possible.”
Red Bull has not confirmed the reported tendon injury, and Hadjar’s recovery timeline remains unclear.
With Baku another demanding street circuit where contact with the barriers is a constant risk, Red Bull will have to weigh up whether bringing Hadjar back is worth the possibility of aggravating the injury.
For Lawson, the uncertainty means another busy fortnight.
Rather than knowing whether he will return to his regular Racing Bulls seat or continue alongside Verstappen, Lawson expects to prepare for both possibilities until Red Bull decides.
That has required additional simulator and factory work throughout his three-race stint, with the two cars demanding different driving approaches.
“It’s more the prep — doing prep for both is a bit difficult, and getting used to different cars,” Lawson said.
“Coming to the end of the weekend, I feel quite comfortable in this car, but I think just going forward, it’s the unknown all the way up to the race weekends — probably all the way up to Wednesday or Thursday for Baku will be potentially when that’s decided — that’s quite tricky to mentally prepare for what car I drive.
“But at the same time, as I said, the more time I drive this, I get more comfortable. Going back now will be quite tough… [because] it’s completely different to drive.”
Lawson acknowledged the workload has been significant but is satisfied with what he has achieved since receiving the unexpected call back to Red Bull.
“I’ve just tried to maximise each weekend. Honestly, a lot of things coming into it were just driver-specific that I knew were going to be challenging about this car, and I just really tried to prepare as much as I could, but it’s been a very busy few weeks, to be honest.
“Probably this coming week will be busy as well, to be honest; I’ll probably be doing prep for both cars again. It’s just been a busy time trying to put everything together, but it’s been good.
“I would have loved to have scored in Monza as well, but I think overall it’s been a strong three weekends.”
Should Hadjar remain unavailable, Lawson appears well placed to continue in the Red Bull for a fourth consecutive Grand Prix.
For now, however, the Kiwi will once again prepare for two possibilities as Red Bull waits to determine whether Hadjar is ready for the demands of Baku.
Header Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
