Do I have Verstappen’s skills? I don’t know

Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles aboard this year’s Red Bull Formula 1 car have given his potential successor Isack Hadjar food for thought.

Like any other Red Bull junior, the Frenchman joined the programme with one goal: driving Red Bull’s F1 car. Recent history has shown it’s a road fraught with dangers that can, in some instances, be potentially career ending too.

Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were able to rehabilitate themselves elsewhere after struggling alongside Verstappen, but veteran Sergio Perez – who is in the frame at Cadillac, still – has had to take at least one year out.

The Mexican’s successor Liam Lawson was only afforded two disastrous weekends before being swapped with Racing Bulls partner Tsunoda, who has since struggled in what is deemed the hardest seat in F1.

That hasn’t deterred 2025 breakout star Hadjar, who has impressed at the junior team with his speed, maturity and transition to F1, even to the surprise of his own squad.

“When I signed the contract with Red Bull four years ago, the goal was to get to Red Bull, so it hasn’t changed,” the 21-year-old said on the eve of the British Grand Prix.

Does it not bother him that everyone before him has been bitten by the Red Bull’s car handling, which has been developed more towards Max Verstappen’s idiosyncratic, highly-sensitive driving style?

“It’s definitely interesting. I would obviously love to [drive the Red Bull car], out of curiosity, go and have a look for myself,” he shrugged. “Max in the Red Bull is very fast. It’s his car and he drives it to the absolute limit. It’s a more efficient car in high-speed corners. It’s a faster car, but it’s apparently hard to exploit most of it.

“I don’t know what’s going on over there, obviously, but the only thing I can tell is that Yuki is very fast.” 

Hadjar says he “doesn’t know” if he would fare better than Tsunoda, but he is under no illusion of the challenge ahead should he get promoted to the main team in 2026.

“That means you would start the weekend on the back foot all the time,” he said about the prospect of facing Verstappen.

“Max doesn’t make mistakes. He puts it together all the time in Q3. He’s very explosive. He gets in the rhythm very fast. You always have to make up lap time and try to get there. It’s definitely a different approach, something I’ve never experienced, because I’ve never faced a four-time world champion.”

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Being Verstappen’s team-mate is a mental challenge as well as a technical one, with some drivers having had the tendency to overdrive the car just to try and hang on to the Dutchman’s coattails. Paired with the sensitive set-up required to go fast, the combination often invites mistakes. Mistakes that further dent a driver’s confidence, which can lead to a negative spiral from which there is no escape – all while under the spotlight of a top team and the pressure that comes with it.

Hadjar says he is confident he has the mental fortitude to withstand it all. But in the same way that he wasn’t sure he was really good enough for F1 until he actually got through pre-season testing in Bahrain, he feels he won’t be able to know if he can thrive at Red bull without having tried it.

“Mentally, yes. I know I’m strong, so I’m not very worried about that. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s this,” he said when asked if he is prepared to take on the challenge. “The only thing is, do I have the skills? Do I have Verstappen’s skills? I don’t know. I don’t know yet. That’s the thing.”

But until then, Hadjar is staying focused on the job at hand at Racing Bulls.

That is not hollow PR-friendly talk. Anyone who has worked with the F2 runner-up has noticed just how self-critical and analytical he is. Is he walking on cloud nine because of his outstanding season start, which has netted him 21 points already as well as praise up and down the paddock? No, he’s analysing why he hasn’t done even better, and figuring out how to get better next time.

“I look back at it and analyse and try to make a better second half,” he said about his first half season in F1. “At the moment, it’s not like I’m in total control and I’m scoring points every weekend. There’s still a lot to learn, so it makes more sense to stay where I am at the moment.”