Isack Hadjar celebrates his racing comeback: “The last month has been difficult”

58 days after his last Grand Prix appearance, it’s now official: Isack Hadjar is fit again and is returning to the wheel of his Red Bull Racing car. His team announced this ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The young Frenchman had injured his wrist during the summer break and missed three Grands Prix. He has therefore not been behind the wheel of an F1 car at a race weekend since the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

He is absolutely delighted about his comeback

Speaking about his comeback, Hadjar said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back into my car. The last month has been difficult for me. It’s the first time in my life that I haven’t been racing, and it’s a strange feeling that I’ve had to get used to.” Due to the summer break and the three cancelled races, it has been almost two months in total without any Grand Prix action. Unfamiliar! Hadjar supported his team on site, but in an unfamiliar role in the garage rather than behind the wheel.

It was important not to rush the decision

Hadjar: “Since I got injured, I’ve focused entirely on my recovery so that I can return as soon as possible.” He then turned his attention to his team and team principal Laurent Mekies. Hadjar: “I’d like to thank Laurent and the team for their patience throughout this whole time. It was important not to rush the decision, and now I feel ready to get back to doing what I do best – driving.”

Over the past few weeks, Red Bull Racing had been deciding, race weekend by race weekend, whether Hadjar would be fit in time. Their approach was that they would only risk a comeback once Hadjar was back to 100 per cent – or close to it. The risk of sustaining long-term injuries from a premature return would be too great. F1 drivers’ wrists are subjected to particular strain. Furthermore, the risk of injury is high even without a pre-existing condition: If drivers lose control of their car, one of the most important preparations for the impact is to take their hands off the steering wheel, as otherwise the steering wheel could be wrenched round on impact, causing injury to the hands or wrists (see Daniel Ricciardo at Zandvoort in 2023). Consequently, the risk would have been enormous with an injury that hadn’t fully healed. Mekies had repeatedly emphasised that a full recovery is the most important thing.

After missing three Grands Prix, the long-awaited good news has finally arrived: Hadjar is fit again and can return to the wheel. And he has a gruelling weekend ahead of him, followed by a packed programme in the weeks that follow. Six races are scheduled to take place over the next seven weeks.

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Positive sim session

Hadjar: “Baku is a unique circuit where you have to be fully focused from the very first moment of the weekend. Even though it’s been quite a while since I last drove the car, our simulator session went well, and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running straight away.” As the Grand Prix takes place on Saturday, Hadjar’s first session in FP1 is already on Thursday.