Isack Hadjar believes that the main challenge of his first season at Red Bull was not being fast enough, but mastering the simple things to gain consistency: podium goal!
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Promoted from Racing Bulls at the end of 2025, the Frenchman immediately showed a promising pace alongside Max Verstappen, but he had more difficulty turning that speed into results during the first races.
The start of the season was indeed difficult, with only one points finish in the first four Grands Prix. Since Canada, however, the situation has radically changed: Hadjar has been consistently finishing in the top 6 and has established himself as a regular contender for big points.
Towards a “real” podium?
Looking back on his first months at Red Bull, the 21-year-old driver explains that his pace was never the real problem: “The start of the season was a bit complicated. In the first races, I felt like I was managing the simplest things very poorly, while the more difficult aspects, like being fast, finding the rhythm, or staying close to Max, I was doing quite well. For the past few races, I have found more consistency and, with the team, we have solved several problems that make life easier. When the car is reliable and competitive, it is much easier to get results. Now, my goal is to be able to fight for a real podium.”
Hadjar specifies that the difficulties mainly came from small details that ended up compromising an entire weekend. He notably cites his starts, the management of energy deployment, understanding the different boost modes, as well as some mistakes at the start of races, like spins on the first lap: “These are all the little things that spoiled our weekends. It took some time to adapt, but today I think we are well in place.”
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This progress is also explained by better reliability of the Red Bull and a deeper understanding of the car’s systems, finally allowing Hadjar to convert his speed into regular results.
Better than in 2025
Despite his good performances, the Frenchman continues to take Max Verstappen as a reference. He believes his one-lap pace is now very competitive, but considers that his teammate remains superior in race management.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really surprised this year,” Isack confides. “I’m simply driving at a better level than last year, which is logical since it’s my second season and I continue to learn. In qualifying, I think I have been performing well, but Max is really impressive on Sundays. His race management is on another level and that’s precisely the aspect I want to keep improving.”
After correcting the mistakes that penalized his weekends and finding a consistency that allows him to score points at every race, Hadjar believes that the next step in his development is now to turn this consistency into a fight for his first podium in Formula 1.
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