Isack Hadjar injured his wrist during the summer break, with the Spanish Grand Prix being the third Formula 1 race he has had to miss for Red Bull.
The Frenchman had been in solid form for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit before a wrist injury impeded his return after the summer break.
Hadjar has missed the rounds run in Zandvoort, Monza and the brand-new Madring circuit since, as Liam Lawson has taken up his duties in the sister RB22 alongside Max Verstappen.
The 21-year-old was keen to return to the cockpit at the Dutch GP weekend itself, but erred on the side of caution after some advice from reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez.
Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies insists that Hadjar is on the right path to fitness and that there is “nothing wrong” with the time it has been taking.
“Isack is good, he’s downstairs right now. Joke aside, there is nothing wrong with Isack’s recovery,” he said.
“I think we have learned that it’s fundamentally a normal time for the sort of injuries he has, so we will continue with the same approach than what we had.”
Red Bull to make an imminent decision on Isack Hadjar’s F1 return
Earlier this month, the FIA International Court of Appeal rendered its final verdict on the Monaco podium controversy, with the French-Algerian racing driver being re-instated his maiden Red Bull podium.
And while Hadjar would be chomping at the bit to make his return, Mekies was adamant that the team would prioritise his health over any notions of making a rapid comeback.
The former Ferrari man further revealed that Red Bull would make a decision on whether Hadjar is fit to race at Baku in “a week’s time”.
“We will evaluate the situations in a week’s time,” Mekies said.
“We have a bit more than a full week to evaluate the situations, to see how he feels, and then to put him on the simulator, to expose him to real-life constraints.
“If he feels close to 100%, we go for it; if he feels the recovery is not completed, we will stick on 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%.”
Liam Lawson opens up on “tricky” Red Bull F1 cameo
The Spanish GP weekend was Lawson’s third consecutive outing with Red Bull in 2026, which is a race weekend more than he had driven for the team as its full-time driver last season.
Lawson’s sixth-placed finish at the Madring, on Sunday, was his best result for the Milton-Keynes-based team.
That said, despite feeling “quite comfortable” with the RB22 now, the Kiwi driver explained how not knowing which car he will be in from one weekend to another has been “tricky” for him mentally.
“It’s a lot of time at the factory and doing a lot of extra preparations,” Lawson said.
“I think this week off won’t be much of a week off. I mean, it’s more the prep. Doing prep for both is a bit difficult, and getting used to different cars.
“Coming to the end of the [Madrid] weekend now, I feel quite comfortable in this car. But 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, and that’s quite tricky to mentally prepare for what car I’m going to drive.
“But, at the same time, like I said, the more time I drive this, I get more comfortable. Going back now will be quite tough. It’s completely different to drive.”
Heading into the Azerbaijan GP weekend, Lawson has found himself in the top-10 in the drivers’ standings, only 12 points shy of Hadjar.
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