Red Bull’s driver conveyor belt is whirring again — and this time the shake-up could stretch across both its teams.
Paddock chatter suggests a double change at Racing Bulls is on the table for 2026, with Isack Hadjar earmarked for promotion to Red Bull Racing alongside Max Verstappen, and Liam Lawson potentially making way in Faenza for a next-wave duo: Arvid Lindblad and, possibly, Alex Dunne. It’s a bold reshuffle that fits a familiar theme: Red Bull wants the next superstar, not another steady wingman.
The Verstappen seat-share remains the sport’s most hazardous assignment. Since Daniel Ricciardo’s exit at the end of 2018, Red Bull has cycled through team-mates trying to solve the same equation: keep up with a four-time World Champion in a car that’s relentlessly quick and unforgiving. The team insists it doesn’t design around Verstappen’s style; the results keep suggesting otherwise. In 2025, his current partner Yuki Tsunoda has had flashes but not the leverage to truly lean on Verstappen. The second seat stays a moving target, and the music is about to stop again.
Hadjar, though, has changed the conversation. The French-Algerian rookie has been one of 2025’s breakout stories at Racing Bulls, stacking up a meaningful points haul and — crucially — landing a podium at Zandvoort. He’s looked sharp, opportunistic and fast enough on Saturdays to run with heavy hitters on Sundays. That’s exactly the profile Red Bull likes to promote, and it’s why the 20-year-old is widely tipped to become Verstappen’s next team-mate.
If that happens, a single Racing Bulls vacancy becomes two if Lawson is moved on. It’s a ruthless call on a driver who’s done little wrong, but this is the Red Bull system in its purest form: always hunting a ceiling-breaker. Lindblad, still early in his journey but with serious momentum in the junior ranks, is firmly on the radar. Dunne, another highly-rated prospect, is also in the frame. Racing Bulls has always been the launchpad — and 2026’s regulations reset makes now an enticing time to throw the kids in and see who swims.
Jamie Chadwick put it bluntly on Sky Sports’ F1 Show: this is a talent search, not a comfort search. Red Bull, she argued, isn’t shopping for “number twos.” It wants drivers who can live within a tenth of Verstappen — or at least scare him on a quali lap. If Hadjar steps up and also falls into the same Verstappen vortex that swallowed others before him, Chadwick hinted, maybe the questions turn inward rather than to the next junior in line.
That’s the real tension here. Red Bull’s junior program remains the most prolific pipeline in F1; its senior seat next to Verstappen remains the toughest landing. Even elite names have struggled to look elite there. Yet the logic for rolling the dice now is compelling. With the 2026 car and engine overhaul arriving next year, bedding in rookies across 2025/26 could pay off just as the competitive order gets shuffled. If you’re going to be brave, be brave before a reset.
From a Racing Bulls perspective, the opportunity is obvious. Two fresh faces would anchor the next cycle. One of them might be the “next Max” — the phrase Red Bull people never say out loud but plainly orbit. From Lawson’s perspective, the timing would sting. He’s been tidy, consistent, and every bit the modern professional. But in this system, tidy doesn’t always get you the golden elevator upstairs.
And upstairs is where the real decision lives. If Red Bull believes Hadjar can replicate his Racing Bulls spark in the big team — handling the pace, the pressure, and the microscope — then the move is as inevitable as it is risky. If they hesitate, they could stick and twist: keep Tsunoda into 2026’s unknowns and keep Hadjar honing his edge in blue. That would be the conservative call. Red Bull, historically, hasn’t loved those.
There’s also the Verstappen factor. However you cut it, the man sets the benchmark. The car is built to be fast, the team is built to be efficient, and the title campaigns are built around his execution. Whoever lands that second seat must survive on speed and self-belief, not promises. Hadjar’s got both — the question is how much and how quickly.
So the outlines are clear. Red Bull is primed to promote. Racing Bulls could reset with two rookies. The 2026 horizon encourages risk. And somewhere in this, the search continues for that rare profile: the driver who doesn’t just partner Verstappen, but changes the way Red Bull thinks about the second seat.
The timelines? Expect clarity as the season winds towards its closing third. Contracts and clauses tend to crystallize just when the paddock noise gets loudest. And Red Bull never minds a little noise. It usually means they’re about to do something everyone else is too cautious to try.
