Helmut Marko reveals driver with ‘mental strength’ to ‘hold his own’ against Verstappen

As Red Bull contemplates its F1 2026 driver line-up, Helmut Marko has put forward Isack Hadjar as a driver within the Red Bull squad who has the “mental strength” to take on the challenge that is Max Verstappen.

But that doesn’t mean the 20-year-old is guaranteed a promotion as Red Bull is open to looking outside its own stable for a “super talent”.

Could Isack Hadjar race for Red Bull in F1 2026?

Arguably, the rookie of the F1 2025 championship even before his Dutch Grand Prix podium, Hadjar staked his claim on the Red Bull Racing seat with a third-placed finish on the banked corners of the Zandvoort circuit.

The Racing Bulls driver lined up fourth behind Max Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix and held his nerve against Charles Leclerc and then George Russell to run P4 when Lando Norris’ McLaren suffered an engine failure.

Elevated onto the podium, the 20-year-old became the youngest-ever Frenchman to stand on the F1 podium and also moved into the top ten in the Drivers’ standings on 37 points.

On a day when Yuki Tsunoda ended his seven-race point-less streak for Red Bull, it was his rival for the F1 2026 Red Bull seat who stole the headlines.

The brutal world of Formula 1:

👉 The ten greatest mid-season F1 driver swaps of the 21st century

👉 The ten worst mid-season F1 driver swaps of the 21st century

More to the point, Red Bull motorsport advisor Marko reckons Hadjar is the driver who could take the fight to Verstappen when other Red Bull racers, including Tsunoda, have failed.

“He’s a funny guy who never blames the car, but always only himself,” the 82-year-old told Klein Zeitung. “Also, he doesn’t make any mistakes and that’s really surprising for a new driver.

“He improves on every track and is fully involved after a few laps, regardless of whether he has driven there before. That’s a very fast one who comes.”

“He certainly has this mental strength to be able to hold his own against Verstappen,” he added.

But holding off on deciding Red Bull and Racing Bulls’ line ups until October at the earliest, Marko admits the seat is by no means Hadjar’s.

He, in fact, is open to Red Bull signing a driver from outside the fold if they believe he’s the one who can get the job done.

“Basically, we want to stick to our driver pool when it comes to the cockpits for 2026,” Marko added. “Of course, if a super talent comes along, we won’t look away, but that’s not the case at the moment.”

Red Bull have a choice of drivers to partner Verstappen next season in Tsunoda, Hadjar and Liam Lawson. They also have options for the Racing Bulls seat with Formula 2’s Arvid Lindblad on the list.

Asked about his potential line up for next season, new Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told PlanetF1.com and other media in Zandvoort that the team is in no rush to decide.

“It’s nine races to go,” he said.

“I’m not telling you that we’ll wait until the last race, because also, there is a dynamic by which you want to let your driver know. But we have time.”

Read next: ‘Powerless’ Isack Hadjar admission as even ‘handcuffs’ would fail to stop Red Bull