Hamilton’s ‘not going to lie’ response as Hadjar secures ‘difficult’ Red Bull promotion
Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar in conversation
Isack Hadjar may be taking an “obviously quite difficult” seat next season when he joins Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but Lewis Hamilton insists he “doesn’t worry”, Hadjar can do the job.
Red Bull will have a new-look line-up next year as Verstappen welcomes Hadjar to the team, his third teammate since Sergio Perez left last December.
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Saying goodbye to Perez in the aftermath of the 2024 season, Liam Lawson and then Yuki Tsunoda both drove the second Red Bull alongside Verstappen during this campaign. Neither shone.
Lawson was axed after three successive Q1 exits while Tsunoda scored just 30 points in Red Bull colours, with Perez’s 152 points and four podiums in 2024 not looking quite so bad.
It has forced Red Bull to try again, this time with rookie racer Hadjar.
The 21-year-old has been one of the standout rookies in terms of resilience and results as he went from crashing on the formation lap in his debut race in Australia, where he was comforted by Hamilton’s father Anthony, to scoring points and even a maiden podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Hajdar sits an impressive P10 in the Drivers’ standings in the Racing Bulls car, 13 points ahead of his teammate Lawson and 18 up on Tsunoda.
Announcing his promotion, Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies said: “In his first F1 season, he has displayed great maturity and proved to be a quick learner.
“Most importantly, he has demonstrated the raw speed that is the number one requirement in this sport.”
“We believe,” he continued, “Isack can thrive alongside Max and produce the magic on track!”
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So too does Hamilton.
The seven-time World Champion has backed Hadjar to rise to the challenge that is being Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull despite it seemingly being a difficult job looking in from the outside.
“I’m not going to lie,” the Ferrari driver told F1 TV, “it doesn’t worry me.
“I think he’s done an amazing job this year and he’s still very, very young. He’s still learning a lot about himself and his surroundings, but he’s done a phenomenal job this year.
“He’s got a great approach.
“We all know what happens when people go to Red Bull and the environment that you’re thrown into.
“Obviously I’ve not been there so I can’t tell from experience, but from looking from the outside it’s obviously quite difficult. Where he is, it seems like a really good environment.”
But while this weekend’s announcement was great news for Hadjar and good news for Lawson who retained his Racing Bulls seat alongside newcomer Arvid Lindblad, it was a blow for Yuki Tsunoda.
After four years with Red Bull’s sister team and a year with Red Bull Racing, he has been demoted to a reserve driver seat for the F1 2026 championship.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed, and p***ed off,” Tsunoda said, in response to a question from PlanetF1.com on how he was feeling after receiving the news.
He, however, has vowed to fight back and return to the grid.
“I’m not finished yet,” he declared on social media.
“Finding out I won’t have a race seat in 2026 was incredibly tough, but I’m determined to work harder than ever with Red Bull as test and reserve driver to develop with the team, and prove I deserve a place on the grid.
“Life’s full of setbacks, and this is mine. It’s not going to deter me from being the best F1 driver I can be.”
Weighing in on the Japanese driver’s demotion, Hamilton said he hoped that in time Tsunoda would be given an opportunity that came with the “right support”
“Yuki is an amazing driver, but every driver that goes there has this general experience,” said the 40-year-old. “But it doesn’t mean those drivers aren’t great. It’s clearly something else. So I just hope that there are changes made that provide him with the right support.”
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