How Isack Hadjar could end up racing for RB in 2025 as Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 exit looms

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The Red Bull Racing driver merry-go-round has been spinning for two decades and could be about to see its latest participant step off.

Red Bull and sister team RB – in its many guises since being purchased from Minardi – have never been concerned about making driver swaps midway through a season.

Alex Albon was promoted to the senior team before the end of his first campaign while Daniil Kvyat had three separate stints between the two outfits.

It appears as though Daniel Ricciardo’s time with RB is set to come to an end after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson appears to be preparing for a second F1 debut at the United States Grand Prix in Austin and his job will be to help Yuki Tsunoda secure a sixth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship for Laurent Mekies’s team.

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However, that might not be where the driver line-up changes stop going into 2025.

A report from the Italian outlet Formu1a.uno has outlined how current Formula 2 star and Red Bull’s highest-rated young driver Isack Hadjar could enter the equation.

Although Ricciardo’s seat is the only one not occupied for next season yet, Red Bull have various clauses in each driver’s contract that mean they can make changes at almost any opportunity.

That could spell bad news for Sergio Perez after another difficult weekend that mathematically rules him out of contention to win the Drivers’ Championship while his teammate still leads the way.

How Isack Hadjar could end up on the 2025 Formula 1 grid with Daniel Ricciardo set to lose his RB seat

The report from Formu1a.uno suggests that there’s still a lot of speculation about Red Bull’s driver changes despite Perez’s improved performance in Baku.

They believe that Perez’s seat is ‘not fully secure’ for 2025 and the previously mentioned clauses could allow Red Bull to make a change.

Liam Lawson’s six-race audition with RB this year could end up leading to an immediate promotion alongside Max Verstappen if Perez fails to step up.

That ‘shake-up’ could then also see Hadjar promoted into the RB team with Ricciardo left on the sidelines.

READ MORE: What role Isack Hadjar is predicted to have in Red Bull / RB’s driver line-ups in 2025

The French-Algerian teenager lost the lead in the Formula 2 championship in Baku after a pointless weekend.

He was caught up in the huge crash ahead of the first corner in the Sprint Race when Kush Maini couldn’t get off the grid and that allowed McLaren star and Sauber hopeful Gabriel Bortoleto to overtake him with two rounds of the championship to go.

Isack Hadjar on Red Bull shortlist for 2025 drive

Being part of the Red Bull junior program is a blessing and a curse as Hadjar is discovering right now.

He’s had the support to put him in a strong Formula 2 car and while Hadjar’s bad luck has prevented him from scoring a lot more points than he currently has.

However, on his FP1 outing at Silverstone he looked nervous and while Hadjar is on a three-man shortlist for a drive for Red Bull next year, he’s only got an outside chance of earning an immediate promotion.

Red Bull aren’t afraid of giving young drivers a chance but the length of time Tsunoda has spent in the RB team, along with the fact that a driver of Ricciardo’s experience was parachuted in when Nyck de Vries was dropped, has made it difficult to earn that opportunity.

A few years back, Perez had to be brought in to partner Verstappen, but Horner is seriously excited about the next generation of talent coming through at Red Bull.