Juan Pablo Montoya has a ‘million-dollar question’ for Laurent Mekies after Isack Hadjar signing

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Isack Hadjar will be racing alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season, and Juan Pablo Montoya has a ‘million-dollar question’ for Laurent Mekies ahead of the new partnership.

The 21-year-old was successful in claiming the second seat at Red Bull for the upcoming 2026 F1 season, with Red Bull confirming that Yuki Tsunoda would take up reserve driver duties.

The move for Isack Hadjar has been tipped throughout the current campaign. The Frenchman has been mightily impressive during his rookie season, and the step up to Red Bull can be seen as a natural progression for him.

However, the age-old question for new Red Bull recruits is whether or not they can compete with Max Verstappen.

Alex Albon, who served as the Red Bull star’s counterpart for a season and a half previously detailed how Red Bull’s F1 cars favour Verstappen due to his knack for a highly sensitive set-up.

• READ MORE: Isack Hadjar shares the Sebastian Vettel-inspired reason why he’s ‘excited’ to race for Red Bull

Juan Pablo Montoya questions whether Isack Hadjar will get an equal F1 car to Max Verstappen next season

Earlier in the season, during the height of the Japanese driver’s woes at Milton Keynes, Red Bull admitted that Tsunoda was driving ‘unequal machinery’ to his high-flying teammate, which compounded the deficits in pace.

In F1’s Weekend Warm-Up for the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi, Juan Pablo Montoya fielded a question regarding the level of equality that Hadjar will receive at Red Bull next season.

In response to the query, the former F1 driver said, “The beginning of the season is going to be much easier before the upgrades start coming.

“The problem is, once the upgrades start coming, are they gonna start putting the upgrades on both cars?

“I think that’s the million-dollar question because Max does an amazing job, but you hardly ever see both Red Bulls on the same car spec. I think that’s going to determine what happens.

“They are under new management, though, and things at Red Bull are changing, so we have to see what their approach is. But I think that’s going to be important.”

• READ MORE: Isack Hadjar’s comments on being Max Verstappen’s F1 teammate sum up why Red Bull have promoted him

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Daniel Ricciardo was the last Red Bull driver to beat Max Verstappen over the course of a single season

Hadjar certainly has a tall order on his hands next season. The impressive record against teammates is part of the Verstappen enigma, and it would be seen as an outstanding achievement for the Frenchman to topple him next year.

Since joining the sport with Toro Rosso in 2015, Verstappen has lost just two teammate battles over the course of a whole season. Those years were 2016 and 2017, when he was pitted against Daniel Ricciardo during what was arguably the peak of the Australian’s career.

Ricciardo’s past advice for Verstappen’s teammates could be a helpful place to start as the 21-year-old prepares for his first season in frontrunning machinery.

The worst-case scenario would see Hadjar replicate Tsunoda, and barely make an impression on Red Bull’s points tally in the constructors’ championship.

However, with F1’s new era of regulations offering a clean slate for every driver on the grid, the 2025 rookie will be expected to start the year off with machinery that is identical to that of his teammate.