Red Bull think one of Isack Hadjar’s biggest flaws has now ‘vanished’ amid 2026 promotion talk

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Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar could be about to enter a career-defining set of races after his extraordinary podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The season couldn’t have started in a more difficult manner for Isack Hadjar after spinning out on the formation lap at the Australian Grand Prix.

Hadjar’s only option was to put his disastrous debut behind him, and back-to-back Q3 appearances in China and Japan suggested that he wasn’t lingering on that early setback.

Since then, Racing Bulls have watched Hadjar improve with almost every race, securing a P6 finish at the Monaco Grand Prix against far more experienced drivers at F1’s most unforgiving circuit.

A spell of pointless Grand Prix finishes leading up to the race at Zandvoort meant many fans were wondering if Liam Lawson had rediscovered the form that led to his Red Bull promotion last summer.

What followed was a weekend for Hadjar where the only faults were with his car, as he struggled with belt issues and a power unit failure in Friday’s practice sessions, before qualifying fourth and recording his first F1 podium.

Hadjar is considered the frontrunner to replace Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull next season if team principal Laurent Mekies and those above him in the team’s management believe a change is needed.

Red Bull were initially sceptical about placing Hadjar at Racing Bulls this year, but one of their biggest concerns has ‘vanished’, according to journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm.

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Red Bull’s worry about Isack Hadjar’s temperament have ‘vanished’ amid promotion rumours

Mitchell-Malm was speaking on The Race F1’s YouTube channel about Hadjar’s future and explained: “The other factor in Red Bull’s decision is whether Hadjar makes too compelling a case to ignore.

“Despite being on a tough run results-wise in Grand Prix before his Zandvoort podium heroics, Hadjar’s performances had remained strong.

“Then qualifying fourth and finishing third was not just a return to the kind of headline-grabbing result that characterised his high-flying start to the European season in May and June, it was a new peak entirely.

“Mekies called it an ‘extraordinary race’, and testament to what an amazing job he’s done since the beginning of the season.

“The doubts about Hadjar’s temperament seem to have vanished as he’s largely controlled his emotions well, and crucially, has shown a very strong ability to bounce back quickly from setbacks.

“This has happened in a bigger picture sense, such as recovering from crashing on the formation lap of his debut in Australia.

“But, it’s also happened in-weekend, like when he hit the wall twice in Friday practice in Monaco but went on to score his then best result of the season that weekend, and of course, how he recovered from missing FP2 at Zandvoort.”

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Isack Hadjar aiming for ‘another great result’ at the Italian Grand Prix

Hadjar is the in-form midfield driver heading to the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, which also acts as another home race for the Faenza-based Racing Bulls team.

Looking forward to it, in Racing Bulls’ official press release, Hadjar said: “It’s very good to be back racing a few days after such a strong result last week. Being in Monza, at one of our home races, it’s special for us.

“There’s a lot of confidence within the team, but we also want to manage our expectations and be focused.

“It might be challenging as it’s a track with a lot of straight lines, but it will be important for us to be in the game so that we can aim for another great result.”

Hadjar’s previous results at Monza suggest he’ll back himself to score points again if his car is competitive enough.

In FRECA, the level before Formula 3, he finished P2 and P1 in the final round of the 2021 season at the circuit.

The following year in F3, he scored points in the feature race, although his four outings at the circuit in Formula 2 saw him finish 11th, 11th, 10th and 11th.