Why accepting Max Verstappen superiority is key to Isack Hadjar success at Red Bull
Max Verstappen will be quicker than Isack Hadjar to start F1 2026, and that's perfectly fine with the newly-promoted Red Bull driver...
Isack Hadjar says he’s approaching his Red Bull promotion with the mindset of becoming ‘frustrated’ alongside Max Verstappen, at least to start…
The French driver impressed Red Bull during his rookie season with Racing Bulls, to the point where he secured a promotion up to the senior team to replace Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
Isack Hadjar: I’m going to Red Bull with the mindset that it will be very tough
Announced in the run-up to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Hadjar’s promotion to Red Bull comes in a stand-out rookie season in which he secured his maiden podium finish with third place at Zandvoort, while being a regular points-scorer throughout the year.
With Red Bull choosing to place him alongside Verstappen for next season, the French driver becomes the latest in a growing list of drivers to get the call-up to the Milton Keynes-based squad, but that second seat has proven a major challenge to find a driver who can deliver at a high standard on a consistent basis.
Over the past seven years, since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo for pastures new, Red Bull has had Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in the second seat.
Of the five, only Perez’s experience proved able to handle the pressure of being consistently beaten by Verstappen.
However, in early 2024, with the development direction of the RB20 moving away from Perez, even the Mexican driver began to struggle for pace and consistency, leading to him being dropped after that season.
Hadjar now enters that environment, but with a distinct advantage over most of his predecessors: F1’s complete rewrite of the regulations means that it’s a completely new car.
“It’s not like Max knows the car; we all start from scratch,” Hadjar told select media including PlanetF1.com in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s the best timing by far. I feel very, very lucky in the way I’m coming to Red Bull, so it’s going to be very beneficial. If the car does go in one direction, then I’ll be here as well.”
But the 21-year-old said he’s accepting of the fact that his four-time F1 World Champion teammate will, without question, be faster than him to kick off their partnership.
Accepting that, a mindset he explained he’s never encountered before in his career, will be paramount if he’s to survive in the Red Bull environment.
“If anything, the goal is to accept that I’m going to be slower the first month,” he said.
“I think that, if you go into that mindset, you accept already that it’s going to be very tough… looking at the data and seeing things you can’t achieve yet.
“It’s going to be very frustrating. But if you know, then you’re more prepared.”
Isack Hadjar: Max Verstappen ‘adapts to what he’s given’
The huge regulations upheaval may mean that Hadjar isn’t starting on the back foot relative to the Dutch driver in terms of car familiarity, but Hadjar isn’t expecting any favours by way of the regulation set not suiting Verstappen.
Accepting that Verstappen will be just as good in F1 2026, in completely different cars, as he was in the ground-effect era in which he won four titles, is also a ‘fact’ that Hadjar is taking into his new role.
“If I were to jump in, if there was another year of this regulation, no way,” he said of the possibility of matching Verstappen.
“You never know, maybe the way you have to drive this [next] car is suiting me perfectly, but, at the same time, it’s Max Verstappen.
“He doesn’t have a driving style. He adapts to what he’s given and that’s what makes his strength.
“So he’s gonna be as good in next year’s cars as he is on this year’s car and as he was on the year before. He is constantly adapting, too.”
It’s in his observances of his predecessors in the seat that Hadjar is taking this attitude, one that could be viewed as defeatist even if logic suggests it’s with a simple acceptance of reality.
In his hope of breaking the cycle of struggle in the Red Bull second seat, Hadjar’s approach is to accept that he won’t be the one to break the cycle initially: start slowly, accept defeat to Verstappen, and attempt to build from there.
“Yeah, I am. That’s why I have this approach,” he said, when asked if he’s mindful of the numerous other drivers who have arrived and failed.
“The key, I don’t know, but the key is to be unbelievably quick, good outside the car, working with the boys, and that’s the only way you’re gonna get there.
“It’s not with a mental, specific approach. You need to get the job done as well, on track.”
Avoiding the ‘snowball’ effect of mentally crumbling will be imperative to a long-term future at Red Bull, with Hadjar explaining that he believes he is taking the “opposite” approach to those who came before.
“Everyone thinks they’re special. Coming in like: ‘He’s a human, I’m gonna beat him,’” he said.
“And then you get stomped over. And then the snowball effect starts.
“Whereas, if you come in, you’re like: ‘I’m nowhere near…’
“We’re talking about the best driver on the grid. So the chance that I’m slow at the start of the year is very high.
“So I might as well accept it now and just work towards getting there.
“Of course, I’m hoping to be as fast as him. I’m hoping, but realistically, it’s very little chance.”
One thing about Hadjar has become very obvious throughout F1 2025, and that’s the fact that he is extremely self-critical.
When speaking to the media after a session, it’s very evident when he knows he has left time on the table, or failed to perform at his best, even if the end result is quite a good one.
It’s perhaps this mindset that Red Bull has identified as making him a good fit alongside Verstappen.
“I have my expectations, and what I was willing to do was sometimes too high for the abilities I have at the moment,” he said, when asked if he’s always thought this way.
“Always in qualifying, I’m always mad because I didn’t get the perfect lap, like I didn’t maximise every corner, every braking, and there’s always something missing.
“At the same time, it’s just my first year. So, if anything, I was maybe being too hard, and that leads to some mistakes at times, because I put so much pressure to deliver, and being at the standards I want to, it leads to mistakes.”
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