Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says they will continue to prioritise Isack Hadjar's recovery over rushing his return from injury, with evaluations planned before a call on whether he races at next week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hadjar has missed the last three races after sustaining a wrist injury during routine training ahead of the sport's return to action from its summer break. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson has stood in for him.
Speaking after last Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, Mekies said Hadjar's recovery was going to plan, with a simulator session planned to help assess his readiness for any return to action in Baku. "There is nothing wrong with Isack's recovery. I think we have learned that it's fundamentally a normal time for the sort of injuries he has," said Mekies "So, we will continue with the same approach and what we have.
"We will evaluate the situation in a week's time. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "We have a full week, a bit more than a full week, to evaluate situations, to see how he feels and then to put him on the simulator, to expose him to real-life constraints. "And if he feels close to 100 per cent, we go for it.
If he feels the recovery is not completed, we will stick to our approach to put his recovery first. "What we don't want to do is, by having an early return, compromise his long-term capacity to come back to 100 per cent." The Azerbaijan GP, held on a street circuit in Baku, starts a day earlier than normal with practice taking place this coming Wednesday ahead of a Saturday race. It is the first round of a triple header with races in Malaysia and Singapore following on the subsequent two weekends.
Lawson has stepped up from sister Racing Bulls to cover for Hadjar, with the New Zealander returning to a seat he briefly held in an ill-fated two-race stint at the start of last season. Yuki Tsunoda has been driving for Racing Bulls. Lawson has twice qualified eighth and scored points at both Zandvoort and Madrid, where he was sixth.
"I think he's done a very good job," said Mekies. "I think we all know how difficult it is to jump to a different team, to a different car, and I think he has done that to the best of what could have been our expectations. "He has taken some very important points [in Madrid] with the P6.
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