Red Bull see five reasons Isack Hadjar is doing better than Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate

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Red Bull believe Isack Hadjar has so far succeeded where Liam Lawson and more have failed as Max Verstappen’s teammate, with his pace and mentality proving to be vital.

The Milton Keynes natives promoted Hadjar from their junior team Racing Bulls for the 2026 F1 season in their quest to finally find a driver who can handle the task of sharing the garage with Verstappen. Hadjar is the sixth driver to join Red Bull since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018.

Red Bull quickly dismissed Pierre Gasly after replacing Ricciardo, lost faith in Alex Albon, saw Sergio Perez have a massive drop-off, demoted Lawson back to Racing Bulls after two races and benched Yuki Tsunoda as neither could get close to Verstappen to support his title bids.

Last year was even the most dominant that Verstappen has been at Red Bull since Ricciardo departed. The four-time F1 champion scored 93.3% of Red Bull’s points, after Lawson failed to secure a single point and Tsunoda only recorded 30 after he moved up from Racing Bulls.

Who would win: Liam Lawson in the Red Bull or Max Verstappen in the Racing Bulls?

We're talking 2026 cars here…

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Red Bull think Isack Hadjar’s speed, mentality and adaptability have made him a successful teammate for Max Verstappen

Hadjar, however, has so far survived the task of sharing the Red Bull garage with Verstappen at the start of F1’s 2026 regulations era. The 21-year-old has already recorded four points to the 28-year-old’s 12 to secure 12th and ninth in the F1 drivers’ standings after three rounds.

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

James Hinchcliffe believes Hadjar has solved Red Bull’s “second car blues” with his form so far this year, which RacingNews365 also reports has really impressed the Red Bull hierarchy. Red Bull, including team boss Laurent Mekies, really admire how Hadjar has kicked off 2026.

Hadjar has impressed Red Bull with his ‘pure speed’, which was already evident with Racing Bulls last year when he reached Q3 16 times over 24 rounds. The Frenchman has also had a ‘very direct’ approach in the garage, and has shown himself to be very ‘motivated’ this year.

Additionally, Hadjar is believed to have had ‘little trouble’ adapting to Red Bull, which was a big issue for Lawson when he started 2025 in Milton Keynes. Lawson frustrated Red Bull last season with his inability to adapt to a tricky car, which is now the situation that Hadjar faces.

Isack Hadjar blames Red Bull’s chassis for their poor start to 2026 – Are you surprised that their engine has not been the biggest issue?

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Hadjar’s adaptability even saw him qualify third on debut for Red Bull in Australia. But there is also an acceptance at Red Bull that Hadjar’s form in comparison to Verstappen’s in 2026 is partly due to the RB22 being in an early development stage, which could change the picture.

Verstappen called his Red Bull RB22 “undriveable” after qualifying in Japan, as the team are yet to find a solution for their chronic balance problems. The RB22 suffers from understeer on corner entry, and the car can also produce oversteer or violent snaps under acceleration.

Hadjar has even described Red Bull’s chassis as “terrible”, and he has claimed it causes them to be slow in the corners. Even Alpine rival Gasly out-qualified both Red Bull drivers in China and Japan, when Verstappen also failed to reach Q3 at Suzuka for the first time since 2015.