Verstappen backs Hadjar as Red Bull’s next lead driver
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 20, 2026
Verstappen backs Hadjar
Max Verstappen said Isack Hadjar could one day take over as Red Bull’s leading driver after he retired from Formula 1, a vote of confidence that pointed to the team’s next generation. Verstappen said he did not plan to race forever and wanted Red Bull to keep bringing in new talent. He also said Red Bull had long built its program around developing young drivers, a path that had often given prospects a direct route into the senior team. In that context, he put Hadjar in the frame as a future leader and said he hoped the young French driver could eventually fill his role. The message was straightforward. Hadjar had already impressed enough to earn Verstappen’s backing, and Verstappen said he saw him as a “great” teammate. For a driver still in the early stages of his Formula 1 career, that kind of endorsement mattered. It connected Hadjar’s progress with the path Red Bull had traditionally used to develop young drivers. Verstappen did not present the idea as a short-term move. He framed it as a long view, one that would come after his own career wound down. That made the praise about Hadjar more than a casual compliment. It read like an opening from Red Bull’s current standard-bearer to a driver who could take on a bigger job down the line.
Hadjar’s Red Bull rise
Hadjar was in his first Red Bull Formula 1 season after one year with Racing Bulls, and he had already put together a run that had drawn attention inside the team. He had two podium finishes at the time of the article, a strong return for a driver still settling into the main squad. He also helped Verstappen deliver Red Bull’s first double podium since 2014 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which underlined how quickly he had become a useful presence at the sharp end of the grid. His qualifying form had been just as eye-catching. Hadjar became the first driver since Sergio Perez to out-qualify Verstappen on merit at the Japanese Grand Prix, a rare feat against Verstappen. He also qualified inside the top 10 in every race except Singapore. Reliability issues affected Hadjar’s RB22 there, which interrupted what had otherwise been a steady run of strong Saturday performances. The season had not been free of setbacks. Hadjar missed three race weekends in 2026 because of a wrist injury, yet the broader picture still showed a driver who had adapted quickly to the demands of a top team. The combination of podiums, strong qualifying and a clear role in Red Bull’s recent success gave his first season a level of credibility.
Verstappen-Hadjar numbers
The numbers helped explain why Verstappen was already talking about Hadjar as a possible successor. With six rounds left in the 2026 Formula 1 season, Verstappen stood fourth in the standings with 221 points, while Hadjar was eighth with 97. Hadjar had scored 52.4% of Verstappen’s points at that stage, a solid return for a driver who had also missed time because of injury. The gap was there, but it was not one that kept Hadjar from making a case for himself. In fair qualifying comparisons, his deficit to Verstappen had been just over two-tenths of a second. That was the kind of margin that kept a young driver in the conversation, especially at a team that had traditionally developed young drivers. The results also showed how quickly Hadjar had moved from the edge of the program toward a bigger role. He arrived from Racing Bulls, delivered points, put Red Bull on the podium in Azerbaijan and matched up well enough against Verstappen to make a measurable impression in qualifying. For Verstappen, that was enough to imagine a future in which Hadjar moved into the lead role after his own departure. The statement was less about succession planning in the abstract and more about what Red Bull had seen on track that season. Hadjar had given the team reasons to believe he could keep growing into that kind of responsibility.
