‘It’s good to come back to the fight’ – Hadjar opens up on new contract and return to racing

Isack Hadjar believes that he’s ready to tackle the challenge of the Baku City Circuit after recovering from his wrist injury, but the Red Bull driver admitted that “it’s still going to be painful for a while”.

Hadjar was forced to sit on the sidelines for the last three rounds in the Netherlands, Italy and Spain as Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson stepped in at the top team, giving the Frenchman sufficient time to heal from a small fracture he sustained in training over summer.

His highly-anticipated return for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix coincided with news of his contract extension, which will see him continue to partner Max Verstappen in 2027 and pursue Red Bull’s goal of contending for titles once again.

“It’s good to come back in these conditions, for sure,” Hadjar told the media in Baku. “I’m really looking forward to driving again.

“The last time I touched a steering wheel was in Budapest, so it’s been a very long time. It’s definitely a challenging track to come back to but I’m excited. It’s also good to have [the contract] announced now. Everything is great.”

Elaborating on his injury and rehabilitation, he added: “I had a small fracture on the outside of the wrist. It’s just quite a long process. I didn’t need any surgery, so it’s all natural and it takes some time.

“It’s still going to be painful for a while, but it’s going to be six weeks soon and it’s strong enough at the moment to resist the tension. I had a test on the sim that went well. I think it’s a similar environment to the cockpit – if anything, it’s nearly identical.

“If it’s fine on the sim then with the adrenaline on track, I should be okay. The training sessions have not been fun because I’ve been doing basically nothing with the left limb. It’s been a bit boring.”

Hadjar was on an impressive run of form before the setback, having seemingly shaken off the so-called ‘second seat curse’ that has seen a number of drivers before him struggle to go up against Verstappen.

He was on a streak of seven top-six finishes between Miami and Hungary, which included a podium in Monaco and memorable charge from P21 to P6 in Belgium that made an impression on Team Principal Laurent Mekies.

Asked how he felt about knowing where he’ll race next season, Hadjar replied: “It’s good, it’s nice. It’s natural. I’m not here to be hopeful. I’m here to show what I do on track. Naturally, the rest comes, so it’s normal in a way.

“I didn’t even talk about [the contract]. I let my people do the talking for me. I do it on the track and that’s about it, so it was very easy. If you’re good, you stay, and that’s it.”