The announcement had made it official, but these laps made the promotion of Isack Hadjar concrete. At the start of last week, Red Bull communicated its “line-up” for the 2026 season. The 21-year-old Frenchman will give up the wheel of his Racing Bulls to join the parent team. Since then, the rookie has competed in the last Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi.
He only finished 17th, which knocked him out of the Top 10 of the Formula 1 World Championship. But two days later, Hadjar was able to swallow his frustration by grabbing his new seat. The Parisian had the opportunity to drive the Red Bull during post-season testing.
He took the RB21 out of the garage two days after Max Verstappen’s victory and Lando Norris’ title. However, this is not the first time that the 11th in the 2025 drivers ranking has driven a Red Bull. During the 2023 season, while he was still playing in Formula 2, the young driver took advantage of free practice for the Mexican GP to test Sergio Perez’s Austrian single-seater.
In November, he did it again in Abu Dhabi, this time aboard Verstappen’s world champion car. “I’ve never had a feeling like this in a car,” he told Canal + after speaking about the “happiest day of” his life on the team’s radio. Hadjar subsequently repeated the experience. After these sporadic tests, he will be able to fully tame his car next season as a starting driver.
