Red Bull Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar is set to miss this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort with a wrist injury.

It emerged on Wednesday morning that the 21-year-odl had picked up the injury ahead of the first race back from F1’s summer break — with sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, confirming to The Athletic that he was set to miss the weekend.

Red Bull is yet to make an announcement on the matter, but Hadjar’s absence would most likely open the door for Liam Lawson, who drives for the sister Racing Bulls team, to step in alongside Max Verstappen.

Lawson moving up would then allow for Yuki Tsunoda, who lost his Red Bull seat to Hadjar at the end of last year, to return to the grid by slotting in at Racing Bulls next to rookie Arvid Lindblad. Tsunoda serves as Red Bull’s reserve driver.

As recently as Monday, Hadjar was anticipated to be racing this weekend, with Red Bull promoting his special edition helmet for the final edition of the Dutch GP on social media.

The 21-year-old scored the only podium of his F1 career to date at Zandvoort last year during his rookie season, when he was driving for Racing Bulls.

The performance was the peak of Hadjar’s strong rookie season, which prompted Red Bull to promote him to its senior squad for 2026 alongside Verstappen in place of the struggling Tsunoda.

Tsunoda himself had got the nod at Red Bull in the early part of last year after the team axed Lawson just two races into the season due to his on-track struggles.

Lawson spent much of last year rebuilding his form before embarking on an solid campaign to date at Racing Bulls, where he has scored points in eight of the first 11 races, including best finishes of sixth in Canada and Great Britain.

Should Lawson get the call-up to drive for Red Bull this weekend, it would give him a chance to compete further up the order in a more competitive car and build on his impressive start to the year.

Importantly, a strong performance would also go some way to prove how much has changed for Lawson since his ill-fated two-race stint alongside Verstappen in early 2025.

After finishing fourth, the 2025-26 season boiled down to a play-off final against Almeria.

Malaga had one of the smallest budgets in the division and had spent just £325,000 on permanent transfers since 2020. Almeria spent more than £10m that season alone.

After a goalless home draw in the first leg, hundreds of fans lined motorway bridges heading out of the city to wave the team on their way to Almeria.

It was a sight symptomatic of the strong bond forged between the team and its fanbase in recent years. It became a common occurrence for fans to welcome the team bus to the stadium with flags and pyrotechnics.

A song adopted by the club’s Fondo Sur ultras, borrowed from the ultras scene in Morocco, became the soundtrack of the season. ‘Es la Vida Loca’ – the crazy life.

Malaga’s average attendance last season was the 11th-highest in the country, but only a few hundred tickets were available for the game in Almeria.

Yet when Chupe steered Malaga in front before Larrubia curled in a stunning second, the whole fanbase did too – kit supplier Hummel incorporated the names of all 26,550 season-ticket holders into a special one-off strip.

The 2-1 victory sparked mass celebrations in Malaga. After partying all weekend, an estimated 185,000 fans lined the streets to give the team a triumphant welcome.

“It was a once-in-a-generation moment. Many young fans had never seen Malaga play in La Liga,” says Fernandez.

“An entire generation had grown up after the club’s Champions League years knowing little more than financial turmoil, sporting disappointment and uncertainty surrounding the club they loved.”

After a second night of partying, several players took to social media to challenge fans to meet them at 07:00 on Monday at a roundabout in a western suburb. Hundreds answered the call.

“That connection between the squad and the fans was one of the defining features of the campaign,” adds Fernandez.

“It helped create a sense that everyone, from the dressing room to the streets of the city, was pulling in the same direction.”

Given their financial constraints, Malaga’s preparations for the top flight have been low-key.

Several important players have renewed their contracts, while sporting director Loren Juarros has made some astute loan signings.

Promotion winner Carlos Dotor returned on loan from Celta Vigo, while £256,000 was spent on loaning winger Juan Cruz from Leganes.

Malaga fans know their club are favourites for relegation.

They open the season with daunting trips to Atletico Madrid (Wednesday, 20:00 BST kick-off) and Real Madrid, but after what they have been through that should not faze them.

“Malaga’s story is beautifully convoluted, with plenty of plot twists and the most enchanting ending,” says Sabatel.

“From now on, we can only enjoy.”

Zion Suzuki was just 20 and had never played in Europe, but when he strode into the training ground of Sint-Truiden in 2023, his new team-mates were impressed.

The 6ft 3in (191cm) goalkeeper, who turns 24 this month, had turned down interest from Manchester United to join the Belgian Pro League side, but his age was always going to give more experienced players pause for thought.

Any fears the new arrival on loan from Japanese team Urawa Red Diamonds may have lacked maturity, though, were quickly dispelled.

When asked why he had turned down a move to compete with then United No 1 Andre Onana at Old Trafford, he told Goal three years ago: “I decided to transfer this time as a step up in aiming to be the best in the world. There was an offer from Manchester United. I decided on this transfer to steadily take the next step in my career.”

The level of maturity, willing to take a less illustrious step to further his career, was an insight into Suzuki’s mindset. Even at that formative stage, it was not the first big decision he had faced.

Suzuki was born in Newark, New Jersey, in August 2002 to a Ghanaian-American father and Japanese mother, but his family moved to Urawa shortly after, when he was still a baby.

It meant he was eligible to represent the USMNT, Ghana and Japan, but chose the nation where he had spent most of his life before moving to Belgium. He played for Japan’s age-group sides as a teenager before making his senior debut aged 19 in 2022, keeping a clean sheet in a 6-0 win over Hong Kong.

Now the player, reportedly named by his mother after the biblical Mount Zion in Jerusalem, is ready to cap his ascent by becoming Aston Villa’s new goalkeeper, having played all four games for Japan at the World Cup before they lost to Brazil in the round of 32.

Japan were knocked out of the World Cup by Brazil in the round of 32 (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Succeeding the Premier League club’s current No 1 Emi Martinez represents a challenge, but Suzuki is resilient and has faced far more difficult issues.

Back in 2024, he had to deal with racist abuse after errors in his sixth performance for Japan, during an Asia Cup defeat by Iraq. At the time, he said he accepted criticism of his performances but “would like people to stop making racist comments”.

“I’m not about to let it beat me,” he said. “I want to come back at them by producing good results.”

“It was crazy to think he was as young as he was when he arrived,” Sint-Truiden centre-back Wolke Janssens tells The Athletic.

“I would call him a top professional. He would work really hard in training and always try to better himself.”

Janssens would be one of those defenders playing in front of Suzuki in a new environment.

The young ‘keeper had spent all his club career at Urawa, in a city around 30km (18 miles) north of Tokyo, where his parents moved when he was young.

But the chance to move to Belgium was his opportunity to play regularly, with his new club’s former goalkeeper (fellow Japan international Daniel Schmidt) on the brink of moving on.

Suzuki moved to Sint-Truiden in Belgium in the summer of 2023 (VIRGINIE LEFOUR/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

“He was still young when he arrived in Belgium, but it felt like he was already a professional player who had been going for 15 years,” says Janssens. “His eagerness was what stood out most to me.

“You could see he adapted quickly to life here. With his big frame and excellent mindset, it was clear he was destined for a future in Europe.

“I remember him as a reliable ‘keeper. You could see STVV (Sint-Truiden) wasn’t going to be his final team. Whilst he wasn’t faultless, he was very self-assured.”

It was that confidence which led Suzuki to turn down one of the world’s biggest teams, even if his dream was to play in the Premier League.

“With so many players succeeding overseas, being a goalkeeper is truly a difficult position to fill,” Suzuki told Goal as he moved to Belgium in 2023.

“There aren’t any Japanese goalkeepers currently playing in the Premier League, so I want to be the first one to achieve that.”

Fast-forward three years and Suzuki is on the verge of fulfilling that ambition at Villa, after starring for his country at this summer’s World Cup.

Such has been the depth of Villa’s planning, they have taken in Suzuki’s season in Belgium, which was followed by his move to Parma in Italy.

He made 32 appearances for the upwardly mobile Sint-Truiden, with six clean sheets, as other clubs around Europe intensified their interest in him.

He has long been on Villa’s radar. Unai Emery has been planning for the exit of No 1 Emi Martinez for the last two summers, and much detailed work has duly gone into sourcing his replacement.

Emery and Villa have been planning for Martinez’s exit (Francisco Seco / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

The Midlanders have been in contact with Parma all summer about Suzuki’s situation, keeping abreast of his proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain and then, last week, learning that it was on the brink of collapse. They wasted no time in acting.

Although James Trafford, who has since joined Leeds, and Lens shot-stopper Robin Risser were strong options, Suzuki was always the preferred choice.

Villa believed the player’s preference, as he had stated with his Premier League ambition, was always to move to Villa Park.

When it became clear he was going to leave Italy, the Villa hierarchy decided to address the position of their new No 1 now instead of waiting for another season.

Martinez had a strong campaign as Villa finished fourth, and he reached a World Cup final again with Argentina in July, but there has been concern around the 33-year-old’s late withdrawals last season (on four occasions, he pulled out in warm-ups).

Marco Bizot, recruited last year from Brest in France, stepped in and covered well. He is considered a capable and experienced deputy to Suzuki, who travelled to Birmingham on Sunday, had a medical on Monday, and is in line to be the club’s first-choice ‘keeper this term.

A source with knowledge of many of the Villa players, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their relationships, says the squad is impressed and enthused by his impending arrival.

Away from the pitch, Suzuki told CBS in 2024 that he likes to play golf, although not watch it, and listens to the music of Japanese rapper AK-69 for motivation.

His high-profile performances for Japan at the World Cup caught even further attention, beginning with some excellent stops in the 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.

“I watched that game,” adds Janssens. “A lot of the players on the pitch (in that game), I’ve played with at STVV. It’s great to see so many of them at the biggest stage.

Suzuki impressed against the Netherlands at the World Cup (Aric Becker / AFP via Getty Images)

“I knew Zion had a lot of qualities, but was somewhat surprised he got to this level as soon as he did. Normally, it takes players numerous years to improve as much as he did.

“He was great at communicating. You could see that he wanted to make sure his defenders are completely aware of what’s going on.

“I’ve played with a lot of great goalkeepers, but with Zion you could feel like there was someone you could rely upon.”

Single-minded, calm and ready to flourish. Villa will hope Suzuki’s ability to thrive at every step continues into the first season of his dream move.