Isack Hadjar was seen by some F1 figures as having one serious flaw before his Racing Bulls debut

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Isack Hadjar may have just punched his golden ticket to the top of Formula 1 with a special Dutch Grand Prix podium.

An assured performance around the Zandvoort circuit saw him claim third position behind Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, lifting him into the top 10 in the drivers’ championship.

Hadjar has been electric in qualifying for a rookie, and has not yet been eliminated in Q1. Putting his pace together on a Sunday has been a little more difficult, but he has impressed there, too.

With the 2026 F1 regulations approaching, it feels inevitable that his days at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls are over, and that the second Red Bull seat beckons for this exciting star.

Red Bull’s ‘best option’ to pair with Verstappen is now considered to be the Frenchman, who has just 15 races of experience under his belt.

The real eye-opener was Helmut Marko giving a ‘very telling’ response about his driver’s future. He says that he’s ‘different’ from their other drivers.

READ MORE: Helmut Marko highlights what impressed him most about Isack Hadjar after Dutch Grand Prix podium

Isack Hadjar was seen by some F1 figures as too arrogant before his Racing Bulls debut

Hadjar’s pre-season prediction has aged brilliantly, after boldly claiming that he would secure his team’s first piece of silverware in four years before even getting into the cockpit.

For someone whose seat was confirmed at the very last minute in late December, he has actually ended up being one of the savviest appointments of last year’s Formula 1 driver market.

However, before reaching the grid, there were some doubts about his abilities. He was probably one of, if not the least talked about rookie for 2025.

Motorsport.com reports that ‘some’ in the Formula 1 paddock believed the 20-year-old to be too arrogant before receiving a promotion.

Others saw him as naive, and his approach to his media is rather unique. He’s heavily self-critical and doesn’t give himself a free pass.

After crashing out before getting to make his debut in Australia, he has come a very long way. Now, he’s in line for an emphatic promotion to the senior team. There are shades of Sebastian Vettel to him.

READ MORE: Isack Hadjar gives four-word answer on whether he’s ready for Red Bull promotion after maiden F1 podium

How the Formula 1 grid reacted to Isack Hadjar’s first podium at the Dutch Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton used one word to describe Hadjar and was left very impressed by his first trophy at Zandvoort.

Not only that, but Verstappen reacted to Hadjar’s podium, too, telling him to be proud of his achievement at such a young age.

Now there’s a very strong chance of the two being teammates next year, they might have just shared the rostrum for the first of many times.

Hadjar has privately been told which team he’ll be driving for in 2026, according to Jacques Villeneuve. If it is the case, then he can afford to have some fun and express himself over the last nine races of the campaign.