Martin Brundle thought Red Bull had changed before they sacrificed Isack Hadjar at Hungarian GP

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Isack Hadjar was called upon to play the team game for Red Bull during Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hadjar qualified eighth at the Hungaroring, while teammate Max Verstappen started from fourth. After he became detached from the lead group, Red Bull opted to extend his first stint.

On lap 18, the frontrunners caught Hadjar on their fresh tyres. He was tasked with holding up the two McLarens as well as the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton to aid Verstappen.

Martin Brundle thinks Isack Hadjar is ‘too good’ to be Max Verstappen’s rear gunner

Hadjar, aided by George Russell’s botched start and Oscar Piastri’s retirement went on to finish sixth, but he was over 55 seconds down on race winner Norris.

While a penalised Hadjar gave Verstappen a tow in Spa qualifying, this is perhaps the first time he’s been used as the sacrificial lamb in a race context.

Hadjar has been far closer to the Dutchman than Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and the latter-day Sergio Perez, with an average gap of just over two-tenths in qualifying trim.

• READ MORE: Isack Hadjar says Red Bull’s car was so bad that he was ‘genuinely scared’ at Hungarian GP

Speaking on the formation lap, Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle suggested the days of Red Bull using Verstappen’s teammates as a rear-gunner were over.

“I think he’s too fast for that,” Brundle said. “He’s too good for that. They don’t need to use their other driver like that anymore. He’s got as much chance of grabbing a podium as anyone else in the top eight.”

Isack Hadjar admits it wasn’t ‘pleasant’ to hold up other cars

In an interview with Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, Hadjar said he didn’t ‘enjoy’ obstructing Verstappen’s competitors.

But Hadjar, who tried to slow Hamilton again on lap 29, accepted that he had to play the team game after lacking pace on his medium tyres.

“Of course, it wasn’t really pleasant to interfere with the leaders’ race like that,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t enjoy doing that either.

• READ MORE: Only one person will celebrate if Max Verstappen walks away from Red Bull

“That is why I hope I manage the first stint better in the future, so that I don’t end up in that situation again.”

Hadjar enters the summer break on 68 points, already more than double what Tsunoda scored last season (33).