The steering wheel has no fault

Isack Hadjar begins the next stage of his journey in the Red Bull empire on Tuesday, when his first official engagement as a newly promoted Red Bull Racing driver will be to test Pirelli’s definitive 2026 tyres for the first time.

As Max Verstappen’s team-mate, Hadjar will occupy one of the most pressured positions in Formula 1 – and not just because Verstappen sets a high bar in terms of sheer speed and voracious, 24/7 competitiveness. Red Bull driver advisor Helmut Marko has long run Red Bull’s driver-development programme along ruthlessly up-or-out lines, and each new level brings increased scrutiny from a man not famed for being in touch with his emotions.

And Marko has already been very clear about how Hadjar needs to up his game in 2026.

“From his side, the only thing we have to blame is that he has to control his emotions,” Marko said in Abu Dhabi.

Then, with a chuckle, he added: “The steering wheel has no fault, I would say.”

The sight of Hadjar unloading his frustration against the unfeeling – and expensive – carbon fibre surface of one of his car’s primary control interfaces has become a predictable coda to any on-track incidents in which he has been the unfortunate victim, most recently when he spun out of qualifying in Qatar and smote the wall. It is difficult for a driver to flagellate themselves while still strapped into the cockpit of an F1 car, so the steering wheel will have to do.

Hadjar sets very high standards for himself, which perhaps accounts for moments such as these. When he was elevated from Formula 2 to F1 with Racing Bulls, having finished second in the 2024 championship to Gabriel Bortoleto, it was understood that there were those within the Red Bull leadership who doubted whether the Frenchman had what it takes to succeed at the top level.

At the time, the decision as to whether Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda would fill the vacancy left by the firing of Sergio Perez was left very late and seemed to occupy the majority of management bandwidth. Hadjar’s promotion came across almost as an afterthought, as if he were merely the next cab off the rank.

But aside from his trip into the barrier on the formation lap of the Australian Grand Prix, Hadjar has exceeded the expectations of both the pundits and Red Bull management. It’s understood that the decision to promote him again, replacing Tsunoda as Verstappen’s team-mate, was taken after his confident and assured run to the podium in Zandvoort – though his ability had been obvious before then.

Isack Hadjar, RB F1 Team crash

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

After that mis-step in Australia he had the pace to finish in the points in China, only for Racing Bulls to fail to get the memo that this would be a one-stop race rather than a two-stop. Several other potential points finishes have gone begging owing to engine issues – or, in Qatar, the front wing undergoing rapid unscheduled disassembly and inducing a puncture.

Hadjar’s disappointment after that race was soothed by being informed of his promotion.

He has still to adapt to Marko’s school of tough love. The fact that Marko has spoken to the media about Hadjar’s talents – in particular his ability to attack and deliver lap times immediately on tracks he doesn’t know – rather than give the man himself a pat on the back is a matter of open humour in the paddock.

“He doesn’t highlight my quality in front of me, that’s for sure,” said Hadjar when asked about this ahead of the Qatar GP.

“It’s not something he does, but the fact that he said it means a lot and I agree with him.”

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Besides controlling his emotions, Hadjar will have to rein in his tendency to be unfiltered when mixing self-criticism with his assessment of team errors or shortcomings in his equipment, as in the post-Qatar media pen where he said, “I’m still very pissed. I’m going to look at what I should have done better at the start and see why our car is just breaking down by itself.”

Drivers can afford to be punchy when they’re delivering on track. But even at his most frustrated this season, Verstappen has reserved his more critical pronouncements for general commentary on car performance, consciously avoiding mention of any team errors.

As Tsunoda has demonstrated this season, the transition from the relatively benign Racing Bulls car, and the lesser level of public scrutiny that team faces, can be difficult. Especially when the expectation of the number-two driver is to be close enough to Verstappen to support him in battle for the drivers’ title, while also racking up points so Red Bull can challenge for the constructors’ championship. It has only just passed Ferrari for third place in 2025, largely owing to Verstappen’s renaissance.

“I think he expected it [the promotion],” said Marko. “And of course he was more than happy.

“Now, he has to deliver.”

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– The Autosport.com Team