Red Bull have now identified their ‘frontrunner’ to replace Yuki Tsunoda for the 2026 F1 season

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Red Bull Racing will be using the next 10 race weekends to determine who partners Max Verstappen for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

It’s safe to say that after a dozen races, Yuki Tsunoda’s promotion into the Red Bull team hasn’t gone to plan.

Tsunoda currently sits 18th in the drivers’ championship, and Red Bull have been solely relying on Max Verstappen to score their points ever since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez has revealed why racing for Red Bull is so difficult, but whether Tsunoda has the ability to turn things around is yet to be seen.

There have been positive signs, especially as new team principal Laurent Mekies has started to give Tsunoda more parity with Verstappen in terms of the parts he’s using.

However, Red Bull need to be prepared for every eventuality, and are starting to consider their options should Tsunoda’s position become untenable.

Red Bull have been linked with Alex Palou, but the ‘frontrunner’ appears to be Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, according to journalist Luke Smith.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

Isack Hadjar identified as Red Bull’s ‘frontrunner’ to replace Yuki Tsunoda in 2026

Smith was speaking on The Ringer F1 Podcast, and asked about Red Bull’s second seat situation, he explained: “I think we’ve still got a good chunk of this season to go, but I think the frontrunner has to be Isack Hadjar.

“I think that his performances this year in that Racing Bulls car have really impressed Red Bull.

“I think that he has maybe been a bit unlucky in recent races, whereas Lawson’s been able to take this step back and get back to his old self.

“For Red Bull, it’s very rare for them to go outside their own driver pool. They did that when signing Checo [Perez], I think that was the first time, I believe I’m right in saying, since 2007, that they’d signed a driver who wasn’t part of their own set-up already.

“So, there are a lot of reasons why they would keep it in-house and focus on that.

“I saw the story about Alex Palou, but that’s just another unknown to throw into the mix.

“I’d be shocked if they went outside their own pool of talent.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know

Red Bull ‘really stoked’ about Arvid Lindblad amid 2026 F1 race seat uncertainty

Another factor that Red Bull have to take into account is Formula 2 star Arvid Lindblad.

Speaking exclusively to F1 Oversteer, Alex Jacques admitted Lindblad was a certainty to race in F1 one day, and that time might be approaching sooner rather than later.

Smith continued in his assessment of Red Bull’s driver decisions, and said: “You mention Arvid Lindblad, he’s very exciting, a very, very good driver. I know internally, Red Bull are really stoked about what he could potentially do.

“I think that the idea of him potentially moving up to F1 with Racing Bulls, I think that would make sense. Hadjar goes up to Red Bull itself.

“Tsunoda, we know that the question marks have always been there from Red Bull, and even at the end of last year, Christian Horner was kind of teasing and questioning about, well, what future would Yuki have if he didn’t get the step up to Red Bull.

“He’s done that now, and he’s not really delivered what they would want.

“I think you would imagine that Hadjar is leading that race for that seat.”

Tsunoda and Liam Lawson appear to be the two Red Bull-backed drivers at most risk of falling off the grid at the end of the season.

There’s an argument going into a new era of F1 regulations that stability is key, but Red Bull have never been afraid of making a bold decision.