(Motorsport-Total.com) – At the halfway point of the 2026 Formula 1 season, there is talk again about a Red Bull cockpit – but not about the seat that has been under the most pressure in recent years. This is possibly the greatest compliment Isack Hadjar could have received after his promotion to Red Bull.
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Since Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Renault, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson, and Yuki Tsunoda have all struggled at some point in the second Red Bull cockpit. So far, there is no sign of that with Hadjar.
The 21-year-old Frenchman himself says he is not surprised. Last year, he already stated that the comprehensive overhaul of the technical regulations would offer the best opportunity to make the step to Red Bull. Now he sees this assessment confirmed.
“To be honest, I haven’t really surprised myself this year. I’m just driving at a high level, definitely better than last year,” he says and explains: “That’s normal because it’s my second season. I’m still not very experienced, but I’m improving a little.”
This is also reflected in the data. Numbers from the data partner Paceteq show that Hadjar has been on average 0.237 seconds behind Verstappen in qualifying so far. This gap is smaller than that of his predecessors in the second Red Bull cockpit.
Verstappen is significantly faster in the race
However, it should be noted that Verstappen believes that drivers like him can make less of a difference under the current regulations. It is clear, however, that Hadjar has shown very strong performances on Saturdays so far.
Nevertheless, he himself sees a clear area where he still needs to improve in the second half of the season compared to Verstappen: race pace. “I would say that Max is overall very impressive on Sundays,” explains the Frenchman.
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“I think my pace over one lap was pretty good. But how well he manages the races is on another level. That’s what I focus on and what I’m working on,” he reveals. This is also confirmed by the data.
While Hadjar’s qualifying deficit is a little more than two tenths of a second, the gap in race pace is larger. On average, Hadjar lost 0.490 seconds per lap to Verstappen on Sundays. This underlines that this is indeed where the greatest potential for improvement lies.
Hadjar’s feedback matches Verstappen’s assessment
Apart from his own learning curve, Hadjar believes that Red Bull as a team still has a lot of work to do. This was evident again at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where the young Red Bull driver never really felt comfortable in the RB22.
“We didn’t manage to find the ‘sweet spot’ and have a drivable car for me. That was not possible throughout the weekend,” he says, emphasizing: “On paper, Hungary looked like a track that would suit us, and I was confident.”
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“But the car just didn’t really come to life,” says Hadjar. A positive aspect, however, is that Hadjar’s feedback matches that of Verstappen. This is not only beneficial for the technical department led by Pierre Wache but also for Hadjar himself.
“Yes, let’s say that’s reassuring. Otherwise, I would really be asking myself questions. So that’s good news,” says Hadjar and adds: “I think it also shows why the gap in qualifying is always so small.”
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