Laurent Mekies says Red Bull saw Isack Hadjar do things in the car that he was not doing before which prompted to promote him in F1 2026.
After the troubles that Yuki Tsunoda faced at Red Bull, no matter the situation, it started to become evident that they will more likely promote Hadjar from Visa Cash App RB to the senior F1 outfit in 2026. The Frenchman had a disaster in Australia, but since then there was no looking back.
He consistently put the car in the Top 10 and had firm grip over teammate Liam Lawson, who was trying to finding his feet again at Visa Cash App RB. In the meantime, Hadjar chipped in whenever possible. He had a brief lull but he broke the shackles with a podium in Zandvoort.
In many ways, Hadjar got a podium in Visa Cash App RB before his predecessors Tsunoda and Lawson could. A Red Bull seat was there for the taking for the Frenchman in 2026. The team was only bidding time and finally confirmed him after Qatar, relegating Tsunoda to reserve role.
Team boss Mekies, who oversaw his potential at Visa Cash App RB in early part of the year, noted that he saw Hadjar do things in the car which he couldn’t do in races before. They had an idea to promote him, but things started to fall in place like that and it eventually prompted them for a final go.
“Isack has had an unbelievable first season,” said Mekies. “There is no doubt that in terms of starting point — so where he started in January — the starting point was outstanding. Then we are strong believers not only in the raw talent, but also the ability of the drivers to develop.
“We have seen so many champions developing through the years, doing things that they had not done in the car a few races before. We’ve seen that with Isack this year too. We’ve seen him making stuff in the car that he was not doing three races before. So, to answer your question, we expect — we would like him to continue onto that path. We don’t see it as a landing point.
“We see it as another start for him to continue to develop, to continue to impress us, to continue to surprise us. And you will expect that in the second year. You will expect that in the third year, perhaps in the fourth year. So that’s a little bit the journey for us together,” summed up Mekies.
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