Many a driver has gone up against Max Verstappen at Red Bull and struggled to make enough of an impact to avoid benching or being cut loose, but Isack Hadjar appears to have bucked the trend and that has earned him a second season with the six-time World Champions in 2027.
The Frenchman is making his return to racing this weekend after missing the last three events while he recovered from a wrist injury. Before that bout of misfortune, Hadjar was on an immense run of form. Having scored in his second race with the team, he followed that up with seven races in the points from race five, including a superb podium on the streets of Monte Carlo. That left him in P8 in the Drivers' Championship on 71 points, only 38 points and two places behind team mate Verstappen. On average, he qualifies two places behind Verstappen and is just over two tenths of a second off on pure pace.
But at the same time, I'm realistic. It's a new regulation. We have the same car. If I believe I'm good, I'm good. And that's the end of the story.
After his stirring fightback from 21st on the grid in Belgium – having taken a suite of penalties for engine component changes – he charged through the field on a bold tyre strategy that saw him pit twice early on before a long final stint on the hard compound, finishing sixth. At the time, his boss Laurent Mekies described it as Hadjar's best race with the team, noting that his speed has been just a little bit better every single race.
When asked earlier in the year if he had worries about stepping into the notoriously tricky second seat at Red Bull, Hadjar was refreshingly honest. "Of course I did in a way, because you look at the gaps between Max's team mates and you're like 'well, this is weird'," he said. "But at the same time, I'm realistic. It's a new regulation. We have the same car. If I believe I'm good, I'm good. And that's the end of the story."
It has turned out he is good. Red Bull already knew what they had, meaning there was no panic when he suffered his freak injury during the summer. Continuity in the second seat – following short stints in recent times for Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda – is a positive development for the team as a whole, particularly as they look to fight their way back to the front having failed to launch a title fight this year. It also marks the first time Red Bull has found stability in the second seat with a Red Bull junior since Daniel Ricciardo partnered Verstappen in 2018.
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