Isack Hadjar says doing the job naturally got him the promotion to Red Bull

Hadjar joined F1 in 2025 as a Racing Bulls driver, and despite crashing in mixed conditions before he even started his first race in Melbourne, he bounced back to snatch a podium in the Dutch Grand Prix and secure a promotion to replace Yuki Tsunoda alongside Max Verstappen in 2026.

In an interview with Formula 1's official website, Hadjar was asked about how he dealt with the pressure and the expectation in his rookie season, where he was in the spotlight being the natural next in line for a Red Bull promotion to partner Verstappen, one of the biggest challenges in the sport.

"I really enjoyed it, I must say," he said. "Coming back to pressure, I felt OK. Of course, I felt very stressed at the start of the year; I didn't have much mileage in F1.

"I was like, 'It's big. It's the biggest championship. It's the last year of this regulation, so everyone is flat out. I have the pace. Am I going to be three-tenths behind? Am I going to struggle to catch up?' But actually, it never happened like that. I was straight in the rhythm. And I must say I just enjoy it a lot.

"I knew that if I did the job naturally, I would get the seat, the promotion, and to be honest, that was my target starting the year," the Frenchman revealed. "I was like, 'I'm going to take it step by step, blah blah blah'.

"That's what I was saying, but in fact I wanted to have a big, big rookie season, step into the Red Bull, and that was it."

However, with the long list of Verstappen victims at Red Bull Racing, Hadjar admitted he was concerned.

He explained: "Of course I did in a way [have concerns] because you look at the gaps between Max's team-mates and you're like, 'Wow, this is weird,' but at the same time I'm realistic."

While Red Bull have struggled so far with their 2026 car, the RB22, Hadjar has done well given the situation.