Isack Hadjar discovered his new car. This Thursday, the Red Bull team unveiled its new Formula 1 single-seater for the 2026 season in Detroit, stronghold of its new partner Ford. The opportunity for the Frenchman to look forward to his second season among the elite, the first alongside Max Verstappen, and to discuss the uncertainty linked to the change in regulations.
A few hundred guests were able to observe the new Red Bull and Racing Bulls models this Thursday, less than two months before the start of the season in Australia (March 7). On stage, the ceremony took on a French accent, that of Laurent Mekies, manager of Red Bull since July 2025, then of Isack Hadjar, young Parisian prodigy propelled to number 2 of the team after a successful apprenticeship season with Racing Bulls.
Hadjar, not impressed by the assembly, said his “privilege” to now compete alongside Max Verstappen, the quadruple Dutch world champion with whom no teammate has so far managed to flourish. Nothing to scare the 21-year-old Frenchman who intends to “gain team confidence, perform well and prolong”, promising that “all (his) senses, all (his) sensors will be on the lookout” in ten days for his first tests.
“Biggest regulatory change in F1 history”
In addition to some cosmetic changes, the latest single-seaters are mainly expected in response to new technical regulations which will make them smaller and lighter. The engine, already hybrid since 2014, will also change with an increase in the contribution of electric energy and the use of so-called “100% sustainable” fuels.
Red Bull, which until now had relied on Honda, had taken the gamble in 2023 of developing its own engine for 2026 in partnership with the automobile juggernaut Ford, which is thus making its return to F1, 22 years after its departure. “You are facing the biggest regulatory change in the history of modern Formula 1,” Laurent Mekies, appointed director of Red Bull to replace the historic Christian Horner last July, explained to AFP.
Between influencers, mini-rap concerts and engineers with virtual reality headsets screwed onto their heads, in a trendy and pretentious atmosphere, the 48-year-old Frenchman officiated as a skillful master of ceremonies, tempering expectations around the team with six manufacturer titles. “I think it would just be naive of us to think that we could build our engine from scratch and be more competitive from the start than people who have been doing it for 95 years,” he said.
“Max (Verstappen), he is undoubtedly one of those who best understand the size of the challenge,” assured the director, about his insatiable champion in the second part of the crazy 2025 season, who came within two points of a new title, won by the Briton Lando Norris. “It’s going to take some time to get used to it (the car), we’re going to have to understand how to get the best performance out of it, get familiar with it,” commented the Dutchman, who says he “gets along very well” with Hadjar.
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