Isack Hadjar gets ‘fired up’ over Max Verstappen and Red Bull thought

Linked to the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2026, Isack Hadjar may be “fired up” but David Coulthard has warned him that it is a very different challenge to what he deals with today at Racing Bulls.

Rookie of the F1 2025 championship in performance, if not championship points, Hadjar is being widely tipped to replace Yuki Tsunoda as Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate for the F1 2026 championship.

A note of caution for Isack Hadjar

The 20-year-old sits second in the Red Bull driver rankings, having outscored both Liam Lawson and Tsunoda to feature inside the top 10 in the Drivers’ standings with 38 points. 15 of those came from his third-placed finish at the Dutch Grand Prix where he recorded his maiden F1 podium.

Neither Lawson, albeit during his brief two-race stint, nor Tsunoda have been able to shine at Red Bull as they struggled to adapt to the RB21’s characteristics.

It has meant Verstappen has again been left to fly the flag alone, with the Dutchman’s 230 points responsible for the team’s fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

For the second year running, Red Bull is tipped to change drivers come the end of the season.

Isack Hadjar v Red Bull squad: F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

According to speculation in the paddock, Hadjar is the favourite to partner Verstappen next year as Formula 1 embraces a new era with all-new cars and engines, while Lawson will stay on at Racing Bulls with Tsunoda facing an uncertain future.

Hadjar is bullish about the prospect of the challenge ahead.

“I just wanna test myself and see how good I am,” he told Channel 4. “That’s what drives me really – to fight the best in the world.

“So now you’re telling me that I get the opportunity to drive alongside the best driver in the world in the same machinery. This fires me up.

“That’s what means the most to me is to prove to myself I’m the best, and my facing Max in the same car is the best way to find out.”

However, former F1 driver Coulthard has warned him not to get carried away in the hype as racing for Red Bull is a very different picture to driving for Racing Bulls, especially when it comes to pressure.

“Well, he’s certainly doing everything right in terms of getting his first opportunity in Formula 1 and showing when an opportunity is there to stand out,” said the Scot.

“So I put the E of excellence.

“But many drivers can look good with a certain amount of freedom and lack of pressure. Once you put them in the pressure of expectation, some of them don’t shine.

“So that’s what we don’t know right now.”

Hadjar, though, has already shown in his fledgling F1 career that he can overcome adversity.

The Frenchman crashed out of his Formula 1 debut race in Australia on the formation lap when he got it wrong on his way to the grid in the rain and binned his VCARB 02 at Turn 2.

He was inconsolable in the paddock as he tried to hide his tears with Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko calling it “embarrassing”. Hadjar later agreed, saying: “I found it embarrassing myself.”

Since then, he’s barely put a wheel wrong.

Today the Frenchman pragmatically says that moment in Australia was part of his Formula 1 story and helped set the stage for what came next.

“I think it’s part of my story, the way I joined Formula 1,” he said. “I knew tougher moments than what happened in Melbourne and other moments. So it’s definitely still character building.

“It happened.

“Now I just gotta bounce back and show what I’m made of.”

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