Isack Hadjar must address ‘incredible’ concern at Red Bull that has nothing to do with their F1 car

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Isack Hadjar will be the next driver to take the plunge into the second Red Bull car, a seat that has become Formula 1’s biggest poisoned chalice since 2018.

Since Daniel Ricciardo left for Renault at the end of 2018, five drivers have joined Red Bull and failed to perform alongside Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has crushed any teammate given to him, resulting in their dismissal.

The 2025 season was arguably the worst for the second Red Bull. Liam Lawson lasted just two races, getting knocked out in Q1 in Australia and China and was dropped back to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda replacing him.

The Japanese driver, who had been performing well in the smoother VCARB 02, inherited Lawson’s problems with the RB21. He could not adapt to the car’s sensitive nature, ultimately scoring 30 points with Red Bull – Tsunoda lost his seat for 2026 and will act as a reserve driver.

Now, many can point the finger towards the car not favouring the second driver, which is entirely valid, because the RB21 was a tough car to handle. Even Verstappen complained about it, but he was able to extract performance, and when upgrades came, Tsunoda still struggled.

And that is where an ‘incredible’ concern is being raised about Hadjar and his venture with Red Bull in 2026. It is something that the Frenchman must address immediately.

Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda mentally ‘broke down’ at Red Bull, Isack Hadjar must avoid this ‘incredible’ problem

Speaking via Formel1.de, former F1 driver Timo Glock talked about the problems with the second Red Bull. He explained that Verstappen could extract the maximum performance from the first lap of practice, while Lawson and Tsunoda ‘broke down’ next to him.

“When a certain development goes in one direction and Max Verstappen can take full advantage of it, but another second driver can’t cope with something like that, then he probably can’t take full advantage of that package,” he said.

“But I just think that a lot of it is also a mental situation. We saw it with Liam Lawson, we saw it with Yuki Tsunoda, who came along and said: ‘I’ll tell you what, I’m the one who can stand up to Max now.’

“And then he broke down mentally because of this structure or this issue and made mistakes that he should never have made. Imola, for example in qualifying, I think Q1, where he had that spectacular accident, those are things that shouldn’t happen to him.

“And he [was] always a step behind internally. But yes, it would be interesting to see. I can only speculate. For me, it’s simply this mental strength, this incredible dominance of Max Verstappen, who is there from lap one of the first free practice session and always makes his mark after lap one.”

Juan Pablo Montoya has wondered if Hadjar will get equal machinery at Red Bull. But even if he does, there is no guarantee that he will challenge Verstappen. No driver has come near him in the team, and the Frenchman cannot afford to fall into the same mental spiral.

Hadjar is already notorious for being too emotional, something that will just weigh him down if he is not on the pace of his teammate. He must not let the pressure get to him and should only worry about himself, rather than making comparisons to Verstappen.

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

Is Isack Hadjar under too much pressure ahead of his Red Bull switch?

There is no denying that Hadjar has talent after his sensational rookie season with Racing Bulls. But Red Bull is a different ball game, and expectations are already being set.

Verstappen’s manager says Red Bull need two cars in 2026, suggesting that Hadjar will need to be close to the four-time champion. If it were not for his points in 2025, the team would have been P9 in the championship, highlighting the scale of improvement the 21-year-old needs to make.

Helmut Marko wants Hadjar to win a race to make him ‘proud’, having been a huge supporter of him before his exit from the team. This only adds to the pressure of needing to adapt to a new car and engine under the 2026 F1 regulations.

But Ted Kravitz wonders if Hadjar will have an advantage over Verstappen with the new changes. Next year is mostly unknown in terms of performance, but one thing is clear: Hadjar cannot let the pressure get to him, or he will fail like his predecessors.