During the 2026 Formula 1 summer break, Isack Hadjar says he’s anything but surprised by his performance at Red Bull—despite some minor initial struggles
In the first half of the season, Isack Hadjar certainly impressed in the second Red Bull cockpit. There haven’t been six consecutive top-6 finishes in the Red Bulls’ second seat since Daniel Ricciardo. Consequently, the 21-year-old is confident and emphasizes: “To be honest, I haven’t surprised myself this year.”
That’s his answer to the question of whether he’s managed to surprise himself in any way with his performance. After all, in the eyes of many experts, Hadjar is performing better at Red Bull than previous teammates. According to Ralf Schumacher, he’s even closer to Verstappen “than Max would sometimes like,” as the six-time Grand Prix winner put it.
“I’m just driving at a high level,” says Hadjar, “definitely better than I was last year. That’s to be expected, since this is my second season. I’m not really inexperienced, but I’ve improved a bit.”
Regarding his teammate, Hadjar explains: “Max is especially impressive on Sundays. He’s pretty good over a single lap, but the way he manages a race is on a whole other level. That’s exactly what I’m working on.”
Hadjar admits, however, that his transition to the RB22 was anything but smooth. “In the first few races, I felt like I couldn’t handle the simple things,” he said. “The difficult things, though—like going fast, finding my rhythm, or staying close to Max—I’m actually very good at.”
During the first few race weekends, Hadjar struggled not least with technical issues. On top of that, there were mistakes like his self-inflicted retirement at the Miami Grand Prix. Since then, Hadjar has been able to stabilize his form and has even managed to hold his own against his teammate at times.
“It’s much easier when the car holds up,” explains the Red Bull driver. “Honestly, it’s easy to get results when [the car] performs. It’s good, but at the same time, I’d like to compete in a race where I can actually fight for the podium. That’s the next goal.”
Hadjar achieved his best result in Monaco. There, the Red Bull driver finished fourth, while Pierre Gasly secured a sensational podium finish for Alpine. For days, it seemed as though Hadjar would inherit third place due to a time penalty for the Alpine driver, but the decision was reversed again ahead of the race weekend in Barcelona.
At times, Hadjar had struggled to get used to the new power units and the associated energy management. “It takes some getting used to, but now we’re fully in the groove,” said the Red Bull driver.
At the halfway point of the Drivers’ World Championship, Hadjar is in eighth place with 68 points. He trails Verstappen by 41 points in the standings heading into the race weekend at Zandvoort.
