Laurent Mekies is changing the internal approach at Red Bull: the second seat will no longer be a simple wingman to Max Verstappen, but an active and fully integrated part of the long-term project.
Almost unnoticed in the wider Formula 1 narrative has been the Red Bull debut of Isack Hadjar, the young driver called up to fill a role this season that is anything but straightforward — a position that in recent years has claimed several high-profile victims.
If merely being the teammate of Max Verstappen is enough to make even established drivers nervous, racing for the team that over the last decade has effectively become the stronghold of the four-time world champion represents what appears to be an almost insurmountable mountain to climb.
During the previous campaign, Red Bull had initially decided to place their trust in Liam Lawson. However, the New Zealander’s experience at Milton Keynes proved to be short-lived. Yuki Tsunoda was later chosen to replace him, and given his growing Formula 1 experience, many believed he could be the right profile to line up alongside Max. We all know how that story ultimately ended.
While both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda struggled to consistently extract performance and adapt to the demanding characteristics of the Red Bull car, Hadjar was quietly building momentum elsewhere. The Franco-Algerian began collecting a series of impressive results that eventually earned him the long-awaited call-up from the parent team.
Now, with less than a week remaining before the start of the new Formula 1 season, a crucial question lingers: will Hadjar be able to withstand the relentless pressure that comes with racing for Red Bull every single Grand Prix weekend? And perhaps even more importantly, will the team itself succeed in creating the right environment around him — given what has happened in the past — to allow him to thrive?
Laurent Mekies on Hadjar: “I see him in a very good place, but it will also depend on us”
Speaking to Motorsport, Laurent Mekies expressed clear confidence in his new driver, while also highlighting an aspect that, at times during the Christian Horner era, appeared to be lacking.
“So far he has done everything in the right way, confirming the correct approach in terms of commitment and personality. Every two days he is at the Milton Keynes factory and he is living in close contact with the team.”
“Between the two Sakhir tests he went back to the simulator, he is leaving nothing to chance. On the eve of the departure for Melbourne I see him in a very good place.”
The Red Bull team principal then added an important point. Clearly, Hadjar will have to prove that what he showed last season was not merely the product of circumstance or a temporary run of form.
However, this time the responsibility will not rest solely on the young driver’s shoulders. Red Bull themselves will need to work proactively to place him in the right psychological and technical conditions to succeed: “It will be up to us to create the right environment around him when pressure and expectations arrive, but he has the personality to do a good job.”
Those words signal a potentially meaningful cultural shift within the team — a recognition that success in modern Formula 1 is not just about raw talent, but about structure, support, and internal balance.
Mekies’ vision contrasts with Horner’s past philosophy
The change at the top appears to have triggered a broader transformation in Red Bull’s internal philosophy. During Christian Horner’s long tenure, the second seat often seemed more like a regulatory requirement than a genuine technical asset in which to invest fully.
In this regard, Sergio Perez’s remarks about his own experience at Milton Keynes were particularly telling: “In our first meeting, Horner explained to me that the car was built around Verstappen and that the team used two of them only because the regulations required it.”
Such an approach inevitably contributed over time to accentuating the internal imbalance within the garage. The car’s development direction, driving characteristics, and strategic priorities increasingly gravitated toward Verstappen’s preferences, leaving his teammates to adapt as best they could.
Under Mekies, however, the message appears fundamentally different. The objective is no longer to field a secondary driver whose primary function is to orbit around Verstappen’s championship ambitions. Instead, the intention is to integrate Hadjar into the technical and human fabric of the team.
The ambition is not simply for him to survive alongside the Dutch superstar, but to grow into a driver capable of influencing development direction, contributing valuable feedback, and playing an active role in shaping Red Bull’s competitive trajectory in Formula 1.
This subtle yet significant philosophical adjustment could prove decisive. In an era where marginal gains define championships and where intra-team harmony can directly impact Constructors’ standings, transforming the second seat from a supporting role into a genuine competitive asset may be essential.
For Hadjar, the challenge remains immense. Driving a car engineered to operate at the razor’s edge of performance, under the shadow of one of the most dominant drivers of his generation, demands exceptional mental resilience and technical sensitivity. Yet, with Mekies openly acknowledging the team’s shared responsibility in nurturing its young talent, the environment may finally be shifting.
Whether this new chapter will mark a turning point for Red Bull’s internal dynamics — and whether Isack Hadjar can seize the opportunity to redefine what the second seat represents — will be one of the most compelling storylines to follow as the new Formula 1 season gets underway.
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