Naomi Schiff points to Red Bull advantage after Dutch GP driver change

Red Bull's driver swap at the Dutch Grand Prix has renewed paddock discussions about two Formula 1 teams sharing the same ownership.

Following a wrist fracture sustained by Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar ahead of the Zandvoort race weekend, the Milton Keynes outfit called up Liam Lawson from sister team Racing Bulls to take his place alongside Max Verstappen.

To fill the resulting vacancy at Racing Bulls, reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda stepped up to race alongside rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Former W Series driver and Sky Sports analyst Naomi Schiff pointed to the advantage of having a driver step up who is already very familiar with driving the 2026-specification cars rather than using a reserve driver, who would not have had as much time in the machinery.

"It seems to be a little bit of an advantage to be able to put someone in who's already currently driving these cars and I guess Ferrari is the only other team that would probably call on Oliver Bearman," Schiff explained during an episode of the Up To Speed podcast after co-host and former F1 driver David Coulthard claimed there is a "strength and depth" in Red Bull in that it can pull in drivers from its sister team.

"Whereas Mercedes have Fred Vesti, who travels with them to most of the races, so it would most likely be him. I do think it works out to be an advantage for Liam, but I think that doesn't take away from the fact that that was probably a daunting environment for him to step back into, although it does look very different than what it was, what he left behind."

Lawson finished the Dutch Grand Prix in seventh place, picking up six points for Red Bull. It is yet to be confirmed whether Hadjar will return for the Italian Grand Prix. 

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