Hadjar out
The special helmet livery created for the last Dutch Grand Prix proved to be useless for Isack Hadjar, who unfortunately will not take to the track. The French Red Bull driver will not participate in the race weekend due to a wrist injury sustained during a gym training session over the summer break. Liam Lawson will replace him (with Yuki Tsunoda joining Arvid Lindblad in Racing Bulls), but it is not the first time in recent years that a driver has had to give up at Zandvoort due to a physical KO.
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Ricciardo’s accident
Even before Hadjar, this happened in 2023, and in that case with Daniel Ricciardo. Unlike the Frenchman, who will not have the chance to participate in any session, the then AlphaTauri driver (now Racing Bulls) at least took to the track during the first two free practice sessions. However, in the second session, the Australian lost control of the car in turn 3 to avoid the crashed car of compatriot Piastri, ending up against the barriers. Exiting the cockpit, Ricciardo immediately appeared to be in a lot of pain in his left arm, so much so that fears of a suspected ‘unfit’ were confirmed after admission to the medical center, where a metacarpal fracture was diagnosed.
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The substitute
Forced to miss the GP, the Australian did not take part in the other four subsequent sessions either, in a season in which Ricciardo returned as a full-time driver only two races earlier replacing Nyck de Vries and during a phase of his career troubled by the end of his McLaren experience at the end of 2022. Curiously, at Zandvoort, AlphaTauri promoted the then rookie Liam Lawson in his place, who achieved a convincing 9th place in Singapore, narrowly missing two other points finishes.
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