Herbert: I hope Red Bull don’t promote Hadjar yet

In recent weeks, Hadjar has been one of the standout stories of the second half of the season. From his breakthrough points in Australia to his measured aggression at Monza, the 19-year-old has been showing maturity beyond expectation. Yet Herbert, a veteran of 161 Grands Prix, believes patience by Red Bull will serve him best.

The Englishman acknowledged: “Isack Hadjar is impressing a lot of people – he is able to deliver and absorb pressure. He definitely seems to have grown. Hadjar has been able to make that jump from F2. And he hasn’t struggled. The only struggle we’ve probably seen for him was his emotion in Australia when he crashed out of the 10th corner. That was the only one.”

Speaking to the media team at Racing Tipster, Herbert praised Hadjar’s ability to adapt quickly, pointing to his Monza performance as another benchmark: “He has delivered consistently in the car. And then he achieved it again in Monza, which is not an easy place to overtake anyway. It was another bloody good race from him. He’s impressing a lot of people and he’s a nice young man.”

The former Benetton and Sauber driver said Hadjar’s calmness has been particularly impressive: “He’s able to deliver in the cockpit, absorb all the outside pressure and he’s a decent guy as well. The expectations are tougher because you have the same equipment as your teammate.

"That’s why he’s able to deliver over someone who’s got a bit more experience than him in Liam Lawson. He’s very much in control of his destiny at the moment and it’s really good to see," explained Herbert.

With speculation that Hadjar could be fast-tracked into the senior Red Bull team alongside Max Verstappen, Herbert urged caution. “I know there’s been a lot of talk about him moving up to Red Bull. I hope they don’t. I hope, in this situation, they give him time to improve, to grow, get more confidence, and learn as much as he possibly can. Then he will probably get that chance.”

He added: “He’s still young enough to be able to have a couple of years of learning what he needs to do in the cockpit within the team structure, but also what he needs to improve on himself at the same time. The biggest thing, as I said, is going to be that mental thing.”

For now, Herbert sees Hadjar as a fast-rising Formula 1 star who should be allowed to grow steadily – rather than become the next victim of Red Bull’s notoriously ruthless driver conveyor belt.

Despite Yuki Tsunoda flopping badly and becoming yet another Verstappen 'victim' in F1, for now, Red Bull's new team boss, Laurent Mekies, is adamant there will be no promotion for the 20-year-old Frenchman.