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The intra-team battle at Racing Bulls between Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson may not have had a significant impact on the championship, but it did determine the future of Red Bull Racing’s 2026 line-up.
Isack Hadjar becomes the latest driver to earn a promotion to Red Bull after his maiden Formula 1 season, meaning he’ll come up against Max Verstappen as the sport enters a new set of regulations.
After losing his Red Bull seat just two races into the 2025 campaign, Liam Lawson was in a fight for his own future with Yuki Tsunoda and Arvid Lindblad, eventually doing enough to earn another year on the grid with Racing Bulls.
How would you rate Liam Lawson’s 2025 season out of 10?
Hadjar outscored Lawson by 13 points, although the New Zealander arguably ended the season in better form, finishing the campaign with better results after the Frenchman’s incredible podium at Zandvoort.
Guenther Steiner thinks Hadjar has a better chance of succeeding at Red Bull than Lawson because of the upcoming regulation changes.
However, he’s also suggested that the Frenchman might have been even faster in 2025 if he had a more experienced teammate.
READ MORE: Who is 2026 Red Bull F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know
Isack Hadjar told that Liam Lawson’s lack of experience slowed him down in 2025
Guenther Steiner was speaking on The Red Flags Podcast and was asked to name his rookie of the season.
He answered: “This is big. This one, you can just get wrong. Isack Hadjar, because over the season, he was the guy who was… I mean, they all did well.
“But Kimi struggled a few times badly. Isack just struggled in Australia. He didn’t make it to the start, you know
“But he recovered, and for me, the most impressive thing from him was, he recovered from that one and was back with his head on his shoulders the next race in China, which was impressive.”
Will Isack Hadjar suffer the same fate as Pierre Gasly at Red Bull?
It was then put to Steiner that Hadjar was the only rookie who went up against another inexperienced driver in Lawson.
He continued: “I will put that against him.
“Because if Hadjar had an experienced teammate, you learn quicker. He had to do it all himself. That’s how I see it.
“I think that’s what makes him even more outstanding, because if you’ve got a reference in a teammate, you can look at the data of that guy and learn from it.
“Where did he look? So if he had an issue, or when he couldn’t find a setup, he had nobody to look at, you know?
“Or if he couldn’t find a line on the racetrack or braking point, you know? Just getting better, he was on his own. So I think I give him a lot of respect for that one as well.”
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know
Liam Lawson ‘excited’ for 2026 Racing Bulls campaign with full pre-season
Lawson made his Formula 1 debut in 2023, but his preparation for each of the campaigns he’s taken part in has been anything but straightforward.
He was thrown into the deep end, making his debut in place of an injured Daniel Ricciardo at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, and similarly had to replace the Australian last year in a bid to earn a seat on the grid the following season.
Lawson then spent the entirety of the winter break going into 2025 getting ready to race for Red Bull, only to be dropped into an entirely different car three races into the season.
Lawson has admitted he’s ‘excited’ for 2026, as he’ll finally have an undisrupted pre-season with no speculation over his immediate future.
He will know that he needs to beat Lindblad during the British teenager’s rookie season, and Lawson’s long-term Red Bull future is up in the air.
But, having consistency going into 2026 will no doubt help him, and while Steiner might have taken a dig at the lack of expertise Hadjar was able to glean from him, he’ll be in a much stronger position to prove him wrong next year.
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