Max Verstappen has made a habit of overwhelming his Red Bull team-mates, but Isack Hadjar is proving considerably harder to break.
The Frenchman has scored points in the last 11 Grands Prix he has contested, a run stretching back to May and interrupted only by three races missed with a wrist injury. Hadjar has collected two podiums and sits eighth in the championship with 105 points, an impressive return from his first season alongside Verstappen and only his second in F1.
He is not matching Verstappen – the four-time world champion leads their qualifying head-to-head 11-4 and their race battle 12-3 – but history suggests that is hardly the only measure of success in Red Bull’s second car.
Why Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mates have struggled
Since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018, a succession of previously highly-rated drivers have struggled alongside Verstappen, with some lasting considerably longer than others.
Pierre Gasly was demoted after only 12 races in 2019, while Alex Albon lost his seat after the following season. Sergio Perez enjoyed far greater success, winning five races for Red Bull and finishing second in the 2023 championship, but increasingly struggled against Verstappen before leaving at the end of 2024.
Liam Lawson lasted just two races alongside Verstappen in 2025 before Yuki Tsunoda was promoted in his place, only for the Japanese driver to endure similar difficulties.
Verstappen’s recent Red Bull team-mates
| Driver | Red Bull stint alongside Verstappen | Races | Best championship result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre Gasly | 2019 | 12 | Sixth* |
| Alex Albon | 2019-20 | 26 | Seventh |
| Sergio Perez | 2021-24 | 90 | Second |
| Liam Lawson | 2025 | 2 | — |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 2025 | 22 | — |
| Isack Hadjar | 2026 | 15 so far | Eighth so far |
*Gasly’s 2019 championship position includes results scored after returning to Toro Rosso.
Ricciardo remains the obvious exception. He raced alongside Verstappen between 2016 and 2018 and was capable of beating him, particularly during the early stages of the Dutchman’s Red Bull career. Perez also proved that sustained success was possible, although the gap to Verstappen grew substantially during his final seasons with the team.
Hadjar’s achievement is therefore not that he is beating Verstappen, but that he has quickly established himself as a dependable second scorer rather than becoming another victim of a seat that has proved exceptionally difficult to master.
The frequently repeated claim that Red Bull deliberately designs its cars around Verstappen has been disputed by the team. What is much clearer is that Verstappen is exceptionally comfortable with characteristics that have often troubled his team-mates, allowing him to extract performance from difficult machinery with remarkable consistency.
Hadjar appears better equipped than most to cope with that challenge. Earlier this season, Red Bull noted that he was averaging only around two-tenths of a second behind Verstappen in qualifying, while his speed, consistency and improvement were enough to convince the team to retain him for 2027 despite his injury absence.
The results since his return have strengthened that decision. Hadjar immediately finished third in Azerbaijan and has continued scoring, with sixth place in Austin extending his run to 11 consecutive points finishes in the Grands Prix he has contested.
He has previously described the challenge of facing Verstappen as competing against the “prime of the prime”, while recognising that access to his team-mate’s data provides perhaps the toughest benchmark available anywhere on the grid.
Hadjar does not need to beat Verstappen to prove he belongs at Red Bull. After years in which the team’s second-seat has resulted in demotions, departures and huge performance gaps, consistently scoring points and giving Red Bull another car near the front represents good progress.
Eleven consecutive scoring appearances, two podiums and another Red Bull contract suggest the team may finally have found some stability on the other side of the garage.
Source: Formula 1
For the latest Formula 1 news, driver updates and stories from across the racing world, follow all the motorsport news on Read Motorsport.
Comments.
Loading comments…