Red Bull expects continuous progress from Isack Hadjar as he enters his first full season with the Milton Keynes team.
The French driver made his Formula 1 debut with the Racing Bulls last season. After a disastrous start in Australia, his rookie campaign turned around, eventually convincing the parent team to bring him in to replace Yuki Tsunoda. In 2026, Hadjar will line up alongside Max Verstappen and face a challenge that has proven fatal for many of the Dutch driver’s previous teammates.
Recent years have shown that Max Verstappen’s teammates often struggle. Several drivers were given very little time before parting ways with Red Bull due to underwhelming results. Hadjar’s task will be to avoid this scenario by showing continuous improvement and speed on track.
Laurent Mekies’ expectations
Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies has outlined what he wants to see from Isack Hadjar in 2026 and in the years to follow. The Frenchman joins the Austrian team with strong intentions based on his performance last season, but the real test will come on track.
“We expect him to continue on this path. We don’t see this as an endpoint,” Laurent Mekies said, who worked with Hadjar at Racing Bulls before taking Horner’s position. “We see it as a new beginning for him, to keep growing, to keep impressing us, to keep surprising us.” The team therefore expects him to maintain his growth trajectory not only in his second F1 season but also in the seasons that follow.
Isack Hadjar’s progress
Laurent Mekies also spoke about the qualities in Hadjar that convinced Red Bull to promote him. “We strongly believe not only in innate talent but also in the ability of drivers to grow,” he said in an interview with Formula 1. This particular ability was evident in Isack Hadjar’s early experience with the team.
The Team Principal highlighted that the rookie’s improvement was clearly visible: “We saw it again this year with Isack. We saw him do things in the car that he hadn’t managed just three races earlier.”
As the 2026 season approaches, the pressure on Isack Hadjar to adapt quickly to the senior team’s environment will be immense. History has shown that the seat next to Verstappen is one of the most difficult in all of motorsport, requiring a unique blend of mental resilience and raw pace. For Isack Hadjar, the goal is clear: he must prove that his rookie-year evolution was not a fluke, but the foundation of a long-term future at the front of the grid.
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