{"id":1018,"date":"2026-08-21T02:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2026-08-20T21:52:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T00:52:05","slug":"arvid0lindblad-defends-red-bulls-choice-liam-lawson-for-dutch-gp-less-risky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/arvid0lindblad-defends-red-bulls-choice-liam-lawson-for-dutch-gp-less-risky\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindblad defends Red Bull&#8217;s choice of Lawson for Dutch GP: &#8220;Less risky&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Logical choice:<\/strong> Arvid Lindblad backed Red Bull&#8217;s decision to name Liam Lawson as Isack Hadjar&#8217;s replacement for the Dutch Grand Prix, describing the move as &#8220;logical&#8221; and less risky.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hadjar injury:<\/strong> Hadjar suffered a wrist injury during summer break training, forcing Red Bull to elevate Lawson to the RB22 while shifting Yuki Tsunoda into the second Racing Bulls seat alongside Lindblad.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Focus on rookie campaign:<\/strong> The 19-year-old British rookie emphasized that he understands the team&#8217;s perspective, choosing to stay focused on maximizing his own race weekend at Zandvoort.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arvid Lindblad expressed complete understanding regarding Red Bull&#8217;s decision to select Liam Lawson as Isack Hadjar&#8217;s replacement for this weekend&#8217;s Dutch Grand Prix, round 12 of the 2026 season. Answering a question from <strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/a><\/strong> during a press conference on Thursday (20), the 19-year-old British driver acknowledged that putting him in the RB22 would have presented a &#8220;higher risk&#8221; given his current status as an F1 rookie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hadjar, who drives car #6 alongside Max Verstappen, sustained a wrist injury during a summer break training session, ruling him out of the Zandvoort event. Consequently, the Milton Keynes squad promoted New Zealand&#8217;s Lawson to step in, while Yuki Tsunoda exited his reserve role to take over the second seat at Racing Bulls alongside Lindblad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked by <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> whether Red Bull provided an explanation for passing him over for the drive, Lindblad kept a pragmatic perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s my first time here in Zandvoort. It&#8217;s a Sprint weekend. I&#8217;m only halfway through my rookie season, so I think it was a more logical decision to go with Liam,&#8221; Lindblad explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;With me, it would have been a bit higher risk. Obviously, as a driver, I would have loved to have that opportunity. But at the same time, I completely understand why they made the choice they did. Now I&#8217;m fully focused on my own weekend and trying to do the best job I can,&#8221; he concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 returns this weekend, from August 21 to 23, for the Dutch Grand Prix \u2014 the 12th round of the 2026 season. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/a><\/strong> covers all the track action live from Zandvoort with reporter Leonid Kliuev. Follow all paddock updates on our <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/news\/\">news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Session schedule: Dutch Grand Prix 2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Session<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Local time (CEST)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>UTC<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Free Practice 1<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday, August 21 \u2013 12:30<\/td><td>10:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Qualifying (Sprint)<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday, August 21 \u2013 16:00<\/td><td>14:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Sprint Race<\/strong><\/td><td>Saturday, August 22 \u2013 11:30<\/td><td>09:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Qualifying<\/strong><\/td><td>Saturday, August 22 \u2013 15:00<\/td><td>13:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Race<\/strong><\/td><td>Sunday, August 23 \u2013 15:00<\/td><td>13:00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Broadcast guide: Where to watch in the United States<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>United States (Eastern Time \/ ET)<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Broadcaster:<\/strong> Apple TV<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Free Practice 1:<\/strong> Friday, August 21 \u2013 06:30 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Qualifying (Sprint):<\/strong> Friday, August 21 \u2013 10:00 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sprint Race:<\/strong> Saturday, August 22 \u2013 05:30 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Qualifying:<\/strong> Saturday, August 22 \u2013 09:00 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Race:<\/strong> Sunday, August 23 \u2013 09:00 ET<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions (FAQ)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Why is Isack Hadjar missing the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Isack Hadjar is sidelined after sustaining a wrist injury during a training exercise over the Formula 1 summer break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Who is driving for Racing Bulls at Zandvoort?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arvid Lindblad is driving alongside Yuki Tsunoda, who moved back into a race seat after Liam Lawson was promoted to Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. Has Arvid Lindblad raced at Circuit Zandvoort in Formula 1 before?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix marks Arvid Lindblad&#8217;s first Formula 1 outing at the Zandvoort layout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking to GRANDE PR\u00caMIO, Arvid Lindblad stated that Red Bull&#8217;s decision to place Liam Lawson in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Zandvoort was a &#8220;logical&#8221; choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020307433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Arvid Lindblad","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Red Bull Content Pool","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":21,"location":"Zandvoort"},{"id":58,"location":""}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[195,161,196,66],"42wp_author":[21,58],"class_list":["post-1018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-arvid-lindblad","tag-isack-hadjar","tag-liam-lawson","tag-red-bull","42wp_author-leonid-kliuev","42wp_author-vicente-soella"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1019,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions\/1019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020307433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}