Red Bull and the continuous changes
If we look at the line-ups fielded by Red Bull in recent years, more precisely from the arrival of Max Verstappen onwards, all of the Dutchman’s teammates have had serious difficulties in keeping up with the pace of the four-time world champion, with some of them even losing their seat in the Milton Keynes team before the end of the season: Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and finally Yuki Tsunoda. Now, for the 2026 season, Verstappen’s new teammate (which former Team Principal Christian Horner defined as “the most difficult role in Formula 1”) will be Isack Hadjar.
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A rookie in the world championship last season with Racing Bulls and having climbed onto the 3rd step of the podium in the Netherlands after a disastrous start to the championship in Australia, the general fear is that yet another failure of a ‘vice-Verstappen’ could be repeated, but those who are not of this opinion, curiously, are drivers who shared the Red Bull garage precisely with the four-time world champion: Sergio Perez and Alex Albon.
The golden opportunity?
Returning to F1 this year at the wheel of the rookie Cadillac team, the Mexican is in fact convinced that there could be no better time to arrive in Milton Keynes, both for Hadjar’s characteristics and for the regulatory changes: “It’s fantastic to arrive at Red Bull with such a change in the regulations – he explained to the media in Bahrain – I think Isack is a very talented driver, he has shown it. I’m sure that as long as he stays calm throughout the year, he will have a very successful career in Formula 1. And then, being Max’s teammate at Red Bull, it’s a fantastic team. So I think it’s a great place for him at this point in his career. I think it’s a huge opportunity“.
An opinion very similar to that of Albon, at Red Bull from the second half of 2019 to 2020, when he was then replaced by Perez, who remained at Milton Keynes until 2024: “I think Isack is a fast driver, and I believe many of these changes to the regulations will be positive. It’s a new start for everyone. Based on what I’ve seen so far, he seems to be quite comfortable with the car, not only in terms of having a fast teammate, but also with the car itself. So I think he will do well“.
