Isack Hadjar has reflected on his relationship with Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen after he joined the team alongside the four-time Formula 1 world champion.
Hadjar’s convincing maiden F1 campaign earned him a graduation to the Milton Keynes-based outfit, after previous drivers repeatedly struggled to even come close to Verstappen’s level – including Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in 2025.
Hadjar’s performance level has been encouraging so far. While Verstappen’s supremacy over his previous team-mates was uncontested, the French youngster has already outqualified the team leader twice and lapped within 0.12s on another four occasions.
Motorsport asked Hadjar if Verstappen usually gave him advice or if they had more of an equal-to-equal relationship, and the sophomore replied: “He definitely doesn't ask me for advice, but if I ask him, he answers. If I need information, he's very open, very kind. So, he doesn't hide anything because he knows he's strong.”
Still, going up against Verstappen has been a substantial challenge for Hadjar, who opened up about what it takes to even get close.
“There's just no time to be lazy, really,” he explained. “It's like every time you go on track, he sets a lap, and it's the highest level you've ever seen, and you're like, 'Okay, I need to make a big step here and there' – and it takes a lot of you to be matching that, and be even just close to that.
“So, every time I'm out on track, I know I need to dig very deep, because it's super impressive.”
Pushing to match Verstappen has come with a few driving errors for Hadjar, who crashed out of the Miami Grand Prix and also hit the wall in free practice in Monaco.
Asked about the way he deals with mistakes, Hadjar chuckled: “Ideally you don't repeat them. That's the goal.
“It's not always easy, but I don't really care. I'm young, it's my second year, I make the mistakes now. When I have a car to be world champion, I don't make the mistakes. That's the idea.
“But I'm more focused on my own performance. I get to compare myself to the best on the grid. That's what I put my focus on at the moment.”
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording
