Isack Hadjar isn’t buying into the hype. In Budapest, the Racing Bulls rookie swatted away chatter about a rapid Red Bull promotion and set his own bar instead: cut the errors, score consistently, earn the conversation.
The 20-year-old arrived in F1 carrying both momentum and scar tissue. He was runner-up in the 2024 Formula 2 championship after that heart-sinker of a stall in the Yas Marina decider. Then his first grand prix weekend turned messy. After qualifying an eye-catching 11th in Melbourne, Hadjar stuck it in the wall on a wet formation lap and never made the start. The tears told their own story.
What followed, though, has been the kind of rebound teams remember. Five top-10s in his next eight starts dragged the narrative in a very different direction and put his name in the Red Bull rumor mill alongside Max Verstappen. Some even floated a mid-season switch at Yuki Tsunoda’s expense. That talk was swiftly cooled by Helmut Marko, who made clear Tsunoda isn’t going anywhere this year.
Hadjar’s own form has plateaued a touch since. Just one point from the last five races leaves him on 22 for the season — a tidy total for a rookie learning the sharp end of the sport, but not a clincher. Asked in Hungary if he’s thinking about life in Red Bull colors, he didn’t blink: “When I can be on top of it and not making any mistakes, then yeah, I can think,” he said. And on whether he’s dreaming of Red Bull? “I’m dreaming of scoring in the points.”
It’s the right read. Kimi Antonelli may be leading the rookie crop at Mercedes, but Hadjar has been the standout on the rise: speed, bite, and a knack for bouncing back. Racing Bulls clearly see it too. Their CEO, who’d previously bristled at suggestions of a mid-season raid, softened the stance after Budapest — admitting the “hands off” line was tongue-in-cheek and calling Hadjar a serious candidate for Red Bull’s 2026 seat alongside Verstappen. The message was equally plain: keep 2025 calm, let the kid grow, then talk. “Honestly, he is incredible.”
That’s the brief for the second half of the year. Neaten up Saturdays, de-risk Sundays, and make the points a habit again. Red Bull don’t hand out race seats on vibes; they do it when the data and the discipline line up. Hadjar knows it. If he strings together the kind of clean, punchy run he’s already shown he can produce, the door he’s not yet willing to knock on might just open on its own.
