Hadjar on 2026 Red Bull promotion reports: I didn't sign anything

Tsunoda has struggled to consistently score points since being promoted to the main team ahead of the third race of the season, and he arrives at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix with just 12. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Hadjar has rebounded from a crash in his debut race in Australia to collect 38 points for Red Bull's junior team.

With Tsunoda currently P19 in the drivers’ standings and Hadjar up in P9, speculation has been rife that the young Frenchman could be Red Bull’s next attempt to find a consistent scorer alongside Verstappen.

Telling reporters this week that he "couldn't care less" about the rumours, Hadjar added: "I think it's very funny. Because I didn't sign anything."

Liam Lawson lasted just two races into the season before being replaced by Tsunoda, and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies — who succeeded the ousted Christian Horner — has said there will not be another midseason change in the second Red Bull seat.

While no official decision has been announced for next season, Hadjar acknowledged that securing a promotion to the senior team has been his long-term objective: "I think it is quite clear. [driver decisions] has always been decided, at least for me, at the very end of the season. I think it makes sense, because there are eight races to go, so I need to keep pushing."

Tsunoda is the third driver in a row to struggle with the notoriously difficult-to-drive Red Bull car, following Lawson and Sergio Perez, who parted ways with the team over the offseason.

Asked what advice he would give Hadjar should he be the next partner to Verstappen, Lawson replied: "I would honestly just say ignore everything that's being said. At the end of the day, we're all racing drivers, we all have to have enough self-confidence to be in the sport in the first place.

"We don't come here thinking that other people are better than us; otherwise, we wouldn't be here. So I think to just have faith in yourself.

"Isack has done a good job this year and I think he needs to just focus on the job and focus on preparing the best he can. Not listening to everything that's said about what it's going to be like because, at the end of the day, nobody actually knows. Only the guys that have done it," added Lawson