Analysis of the performance history of drivers occupying the Milton Keynes team’s second seat alongside Max Verstappen.
In the world of Formula 1, few recurring narratives are as persistent as the one surrounding the second Red Bull seat. It is not simply a matter of bad luck or an unbalanced internal hierarchy: it feels like a true “dark cloud”, reminiscent of the one that constantly follows the unlucky accountant Ugo Fantozzi in the films starring Paolo Villaggio.
A sort of curse that follows whoever occupies that seat, transforming golden opportunities into nightmares of underperformance, mistakes, and public humiliation. From Alex Albon to Pierre Gasly, from Sergio Pérez in 2024 to Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, and now Isack Hadjar, the curse keeps returning with relentless consistency.
The legacy of Pérez
Sergio Pérez, after three years at Red Bull, began his rapid decline in 2024. Repeated errors, disappointing qualifying sessions, and a massive gap to his Dutch teammate turned his season into a slow collapse.
The Fantozzi-like cloud materialised through avoidable incidents, tense team radio messages, and a contract that increasingly looked uncertain. Pérez embodied the first rule of the curse: in the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen, even an experienced and reliable driver can suddenly look inadequate.
Pressure, a setup heavily optimised for a single driver, and the inevitable ruthless comparison erode confidence and performance. By the end of that year, he was dropped to make room for Liam Lawson.
The interlude of Lawson and Tsunoda
After Pérez, Red Bull gave Liam Lawson a chance at the start of 2025. The New Zealander, coming off solid results with Racing Bulls, experienced a short and difficult spell in the “big seat”. Two Grands Prix were enough to highlight the struggles: poor performances, large gaps to Verstappen, and a lack of consistency that quickly sent him back to the junior team.
The cloud struck again with its usual precision.
Yuki Tsunoda was then promoted from the junior programme after years of loyalty. The Japanese driver brought experience, aggression, and unpredictability. However, the curse quickly reappeared.
His performances were also far from competitive, with clear gaps to his teammate and ongoing difficulties in extracting the maximum from the car. Driving errors, multiple penalties, and tense team radio messages echoed Fantozzi-style misfortunes: maximum effort, but an unfavourable fate.
By the end of the season, Red Bull opted for another change, demoting Yuki Tsunoda to reserve duties and consolidating Lawson in the satellite programme. Neither driver managed to break the spell.
The arrival of Hadjar: from Melbourne to Miami
Isack Hadjar, a young talent promoted from the Red Bull academy after a solid 2025 season with Racing Bulls (including a podium in the Netherlands), was seen by many as a potential exception. Talented, fresh, and highly motivated, he appeared capable of breaking the pattern in a new regulatory era.
His debut, however, was immediately marked by the same cloud. In Melbourne, Hadjar impressed in qualifying with a strong third place, but in the race—while fighting for fifth—he retired early due to a power unit failure. A promising debut turned into mechanical disappointment.
In the following races, the curse continued to follow him. In China he finished 8th, while in Japan he ended 12th outside the points. Occasional competitive flashes appeared, but never the expected consistency.
In Miami, the irony of the Fantozzi-style cloud returned in full force. Hadjar qualified 9th but was disqualified due to a technical infringement on the car’s floor (a 2 mm protrusion beyond regulations). Forced to start from the pit lane after further adjustments under parc fermé conditions, his weekend worsened dramatically.
By lap 5, a driving error led to contact with the barriers. Setup mistakes, clear gaps to his teammate, regulatory misfortune, and an early crash: the curse welcomed the newcomer with its classic “multi-layered” greeting.
Why the cloud persists
The comparison with Fantozzi is not purely humorous. Like the fictional accountant, Red Bull’s second drivers seem trapped in a system larger than themselves: a car designed around a generational talent, extreme internal and media pressure, and a small margin of error that turns minor issues into major setbacks.
It is not only (or always) a question of talent, but rather a toxic combination of factors that makes it extremely difficult to shine. Verstappen dominates legitimately; the second driver, instead, fights against what feels like a predetermined fate.
Recent history shows that nobody escapes unscathed. Gasly, Albon, Pérez, Lawson, Tsunoda, and now Hadjar: the cloud follows, rains down, and never dissipates. Each new arrival must not only fight competitors on track, but also battle a narrative that risks becoming self-fulfilling.
Conclusion
The curse of the second Red Bull driver remains one of the most fascinating and ruthless stories in modern Formula 1. As long as the Fantozzi cloud continues to hover over Milton Keynes, every new recruit enters a tragic comedy already in motion.
The search continues for the driver capable of opening an umbrella and changing the outcome for everyone else. For now, the script remains unchanged: applause for Verstappen, bitter smiles (or sympathy) for the second driver. And the cloud, indifferent as ever, continues its journey.
Leave a Reply