Isack Hadjar 2026: Red Bull's Best Teammate for Verstappen Since Ricciardo?

Important caveat: Hadjar has no wins, no poles, and no podium finishes in 2026 . His competitiveness is measured in consistency and single-lap pace, not silverware.

Standout Results: Monaco, Canada, and a Debut to Remember

Hadjar has scored points in 6 of 11 grands prix, with two DNFs . His best finishes:

Monaco (Round 6) was the highlight. Hadjar qualified 5th, battled mechanical issues and a late-race red flag, and crossed the line 4th, just 1.1s behind Pierre Gasly's podium . Some sources initially reported a podium for Hadjar, but the final classification confirmed P4 after a post-race review of Gasly's position . Still, his 12-point haul was his biggest of the season .

Canada (Round 5) and Great Britain (Round 9): Back-to-back 5th-place finishes on very different circuits — a street-style track in Montreal and a high-speed layout at Silverstone — demonstrating adaptability .

Australia (Round 1, debut): Hadjar qualified an impressive 3rd on debut in Melbourne, but retired early with an engine issue . That qualifying performance set the tone for the season.

Average finishing position across his 9 completed races is approximately 6th–7th .

The Red Bull Racing Situation: P4 and Falling

Red Bull Racing has slipped to 4th in the Constructors' Championship with 177 points — their worst position since 2019 . The standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix (Round 11) are as follows :

Red Bull trails Mercedes by 202 points and Ferrari by 130 . The RB22 (2026 regulation car) has been outpaced by the front-runners and is only 5 points clear of McLaren . Year-on-year, Red Bull's points after 11 rounds are up slightly (+15 vs. 2025), but Mercedes (+170) and Ferrari (+97) have improved far more dramatically .

Racing Bulls: Best-Ever Constructors' Finish in Sight

Racing Bulls sits P5 with 66 points, leading the midfield battle by 5 points over Alpine . This would be the team's best-ever constructors' finish (previous best: P6 in 2024 and 2008) .

Liam Lawson (43 pts) and rookie Arvid Lindblad (23 pts) have both contributed solidly . Team principal Alan Permane has stated they are chasing a top-5 finish for the first time in team history and will not impose team orders between the two drivers .

The Racing Bulls story is a bright spot for Red Bull's broader driver programme: two junior drivers scoring consistently and pushing the team toward its best-ever result, while the senior team struggles with a car that no longer dominates.

Key Takeaway

Hadjar's +0.087s qualifying gap to Verstappen is the closest any Red Bull teammate has managed in nearly a decade. He hasn't won or stood on a podium, but that single-lap proximity — combined with consistent points finishes — represents genuine progress for a seat that has broken more careers than it has made.

The bigger question in 2026 is not whether Hadjar can match Verstappen (he can't, yet), but whether Red Bull can build a car that lets both drivers fight for wins again.