Autobayng News Team
Isack Hadjar believes he can succeed as Max Verstappen’s next team mate at Red Bull despite the difficulties his predecessors faced.
The three team mates Verstappen has had over the last 12 months have consistently struggled to match his performance in the RB21. That has led to a wide gap between their results.
Verstappen’s current team mate Yuki Tsunoda has scored just 30 points to his 360 over their 21 rounds together this year. Tsunoda is guaranteed to end the year with the biggest points deficit to a team mate in F1 history.
Tsunoda was promoted to the position when Red Bull decided to demote Liam Lawson after just two rounds. Prior to Lawson, Verstappen out-scored Sergio Perez by 437 points to 152 last year.
Hadjar believes that as Formula 1 will introduce new technical regulations next year, now is the perfect time for him to join Red Bull and help develop their next generation of cars.
“It’s not the same car at all next year,” he said. “So we’re going to get the car we have.
“The team is going to build this car, I have to adapt to that car and Max will have to do the same job. So if the car goes into one direction, at least I’ll be there to feel the change and ideally I’ll contribute to that change. That would be the ideal scenario.”
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He believes adjusting to different cars is a strength of his. “I’ve never repeated a year,” said Hadjar, “I’ve always competed in different cars, so I don’t know what [it is like to do] twice the same thing, the same job. So I think [I’m] pretty decent at adapting, so I’m actually confident.”
“If that’s the line-up for next year, then I think they chose it because it makes sense and of course because it’s a new [set of] regulations,” he added. “So the timing is just very ideal for me.”
Hadjar admitted Verstappen’s driving style is unusual but sees some similarities to his in it. “Obviously Max has a very unique style, and I would say myself as well. I’m not, obviously, trying to copy what he’s doing, but in terms of mindset we have some things in common. But that’s it.”
He said he “found out very late – Qatar race week” from Red Bull’ motorsport consultant Helmut Marko that he would be promoted to their top F1 team. “It’s just a talk with Helmut I had,” he said. “He made me understand I was driving for Red Bull and I had to deliver, that’s it.”
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2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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