Helmut Marko gave Isack Hadjar ‘multiple’ warnings about 2026 before he left Red Bull

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Helmut Marko has been Isack Hadjar’s biggest supporter since his promotion to Formula 1 in 2025. But as he prepares for another step up with Red Bull in 2026, he will not have him by his side.

Marko left Red Bull at the end of 2025, joining the likes of Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, who have departed in recent months. The Austrian had played a key role in Hadjar’s career and was pivotal in his 2026 promotion.

As Yuki Tsunoda faced pressure to keep his seat, the 82-year-old was pushing to get the Racing Bulls star, who grabbed his maiden F1 podium at Zandvoort, into the team. In fact, at that race, Marko told Hadjar he would be promoted.

Does Isack Hadjar have the right mindset for his promotion to Red Bull in 2026?

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This annoyed Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies, who publicly stated that a decision would not be made until the end of the season. But it highlighted just how highly Marko viewed the 21-year-old.

Marko saw a Charles Leclerc-like trait in Hadjar with his search for perfection. Marko even compared Hadjar to Ayrton Senna, rating him as a serious talent of the future.

But the former Red Bull chief advisor was also realistic about the Frenchman’s move to Red Bull. After all, he is going up against Max Verstappen, and he would do well to listen to Marko’s ‘multiple’ warnings.

Helmut Marko warned Isack Hadjar he cannot go to Red Bull thinking he can be world champion

Speaking on the James Allen on F1 podcast, journalist Ronald Vording recounted how Marko had told Hadjar several times that he could not come to Red Bull expecting to be world champion ‘immediately’.

“There’s one moment that comes to my mind,” he said. “I think it was Monza when we talked about the chance for ‘26 and the reset and regulations. And I said: ‘OK, do you think that with a reset, that it will be easier?’

“And he sat back a little and said: ‘Much easier, yeah, a lot easier because all the issues with the second Red Bull car that we talked about, they will all be gone. They don’t exist anymore.’

“And I was like, OK, that sounds pretty confident, maybe a bit too confident. I don’t know. I mean, going there, you need the confidence. But I say, maybe having a car that’s hopefully for them a bit more predictable is one thing.

“But you still, and that’s the other thing, you still have Max Verstappen on the other side of the garage. And if you look at the data, and if you come back after a run, you think: ‘Oh, I’ve done a pretty good lap here,’ and you’re still like four or five tenths down, then you have to stay calm also mentally.

“And I think that will be a big challenge for him. So I think a lot depends on his mindset. He shouldn’t go there, and that’s what Helmut Marko, OK, he’s gone now, but that’s what Helmut Marko already told him multiple times.

“He said: ‘You should not go there with a mentality to become world champion immediately.”

READ MORE: Who is 2026 Red Bull F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know

Will Isack Hadjar be the next to fail at Red Bull?

Hadjar has proven he is a serious talent and worthy of a move to Red Bull. But as history has shown, no driver has come close to matching Verstappen, let alone beating him, in the same car, and the Frenchman could suffer a similar fate.

The second car has been something of a poisoned chalice in recent years, with Verstappen scoring all but 30 of Red Bull’s points in 2025. If Hadjar is to have any chance at success, he will need a car that is more suited to him and equal to his teammate.

Will Isack Hadjar suffer the same fate as Pierre Gasly at Red Bull?

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With his former Racing Bulls boss, Mekies, at the helm, those steps may already have been taken. Hadjar will have the support around him to perform, even with Marko no longer in the team.

However, he will be expected to deliver results and could easily be demoted, as his predecessors have found out. Liam Lawson could put Hadjar under pressure in 2026 if he cannot match up to Verstappen.