‘I can afford some mistakes’ – Red Bull F1 promotion is freeing Isack Hadjar of pressure

Graduating to Red Bull can be a daunting prospect for the brand’s youngsters – but it clearly isn’t for Hadjar

This may be anecdotal given the Australian Grand Prix is just the first round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, but Isack Hadjar is the first driver to lead Max Verstappen in their qualifying head-to-head since Daniel Ricciardo early in the 2017 campaign.

That is largely down to Verstappen crashing out of Q1 in Melbourne with what may be a technical fault – Red Bull is “still trying to fully understand what happened”, team boss Laurent Mekies said. Regardless, Hadjar stepped up and grabbed third position on the Albert Park grid behind the untouchable Silver Arrows.

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After Verstappen’s successive team-mates failed to match his performance, with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda noticeably struggling with pressure at Red Bull last year, Hadjar’s early comments point to a thriving state of mind as he settles into the main squad.

“Honestly, it was a very chill session,” the Frenchman commented. “There was no drama for me.

“Also, it’s the first time, I think, in my small F1 career that lap after lap I found lap time, even on used tyres. So, I was just building up to it. We did a very good job being consistent with the energy deployment management through the lap, so that was very consistent compared to yesterday, which was quite bad.

“It’s the first time in my career it’s that easy to put a car in the top 10, so then it makes the whole process a lot easier. You build up to it the way you want, you can allow yourself some mistakes. So yeah, in terms of pressure it wasn’t very high and that was good.”

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

Hadjar did lament the inability to compare his performance to Verstappen following the Dutchman’s early shunt: “I might be P3, but if Max was actually running the whole session then I don’t know if I would be here. So that’s a shame. I want to compare myself with the best and today that didn’t happen, so we’ll do that next time in China.”

Outqualifying both McLarens and Ferraris didn’t initially seem to be on the cards for Hadjar, who was fifth-fastest in Q1 and Q2.

“We are not really in a position to fight for a top three,” the Red Bull racer reckoned. “I felt like the Ferrari, the McLaren were a bit clear of myself, but we kind of built up to it the whole qualifying session and that was a very good last lap.

“At the moment we know our weakness. We have a reliable car underneath, which is positive, but we’re just lacking pure performance at the minute.”

Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Hadjar still was 0.785s adrift of polesetter George Russell as Mercedes’ supremacy came to light with a 1-2, so the sophomore has little hope of challenging the Silver Arrows in the race.

Asked if he could do anything about Mercedes, Hadjar replied: “Yeah, take a better start, but then it’s going to be... they’re just too fast at the moment. So, I want to keep my position. A second podium could be good [after his third place in the 2025 Dutch GP with Racing Bulls].

“But yeah, we simply don’t have the pace to win.”