Marko on Hadjar: There's a good one coming

Hadjar was the talk of the town after finishing third in the Grand Prix in Zandvoort, fending off the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who tried to attack him several times but to no avail.

The French-Algerian driver's podium followed a great qualifying where he stuck his VCARB fourth on the grid behind Max Verstappen and the two McLarens, and while he got lucky with Lando Norris' DNF, Hadjar drove a solid race and put himself in the position to pick up the pieces after the Briton broke down.

And with Red Bull struggling to find a decent #2 driver to place alongside Verstappen, with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda failing to do the job so far in 2025, it was inevitable that Hadjar's name is now linked with the seat currently occupied by Tsunoda.

Commenting on Hadjar's performance following the Dutch Grand Prix, Red Bull Consultant Dr. Helmut Marko said: "He had to fight pretty hard for it, you know.

"I saw Russell attack him several times. And the other driver was Leclerc. They really tried, but he stayed calm. He didn't do anything wrong. So, yeah, there's a good one coming," he added.

With the current consensus that any F1 driver teamed with Verstappen at Red Bull Racing will get burned, Marko begged to differ when it came to Hadjar.

Asked whether the 20-year-old can take to pressure at Red Bull Racing, the Austrian said:" Isack is different."

He then pointed out how he bounced back after an engine failure that cost him a practice session adding: "He had these engine problems on Friday.

"He completely missed one session, and missed 50% of the other one or so. But he wasn't worried. He said, 'I have the speed, I will qualify in the top five'," Marko concluded.

(Quotes from Motorsport.com)