After months of speculation, sister teams Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls have finally confirmed their driver lineups for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Both teams opted for major changes, with Isack Hadjar replacing Yuki Tsonoda at Red Bull, and newcomer Arvid Lindblad slated to fill Racing Bull’s vacant seat.
After entering the year as a rookie, Hadjar had an incredible debut season with Racing Bulls, and is capping off his success with a promotion to the organization’s number one team.
However, Red Bull’s second seat has been far from stable and is widely thought to be cursed within the F1 community. From 2019-2025, the seat has been occupied by five different drivers, each of whom has been dropped for failing to deliver to the same level as Max Verstappen.
Will Isack Hadjar be the most recent victim in a long line of drivers to succumb to the curse, or can he be the one to finally break it and establish himself as a true talent in the sport?
Isack Hadjar’s 2025 performance
Isack Hadjar’s 2025 results are something to be proud of. Hadjar has scored 51 points for Racing Bulls in his rookie season and even earned his first podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. He has also outperformed his teammate Liam Lawson, who has scored 38 points, with his highest race finish being P5.
Despite such a successful season and earning a promotion, Hadjar has already acknowledged the pressure to perform and shared his thoughts after the signing:
“There was no phone call, that isn’t how it worked. It was just a talk with [team advisor] Helmut I had. “He made me understand I was driving for Red Bull and I had to deliver. “That’s it.”
While high standards are simply part of the sport, Hadjar’s comments allude to the low tolerance Red Bull has for subpar performance when racing alongside Max Verstappen.
A brief history of Red Bull’s second seat
With Max Verstappen leading Red Bull to 4 consecutive Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships, he absolutely should be Red Bull’s number one driver. That being said, Verstappen’s success has come at the expense of almost all of his teammates.
Let’s take a look at which drivers have occupied that second seat since 2019, and how they have fared.
| Driver | Seasons or Races | Performance | Next Career Move |
| Pierre Gasly | 2019 (Races 1-12) | 63 points, 0 podiums | Demoted to Racing Bulls (2019-2022), before moving to Alpine (2023-present) |
| Alex Albon | 2019 (Races 13-21), 2020 | 173 points, 2 podiums | Demoted to Red Bull reserve driver (2021), before moving to Williams Racing (2022-present) |
| Sergio Pérez | 2021-2024 | 838 points, 22 podiums | Left F1 (2025) returning for the 2026 season with Cadillac F1 Team |
| Liam Lawson | 2025 (Races 1-2) | 0 points, 0 podiums | Demoted to Racing Bulls (2025-present) |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 2025 (Races 3-24) | 33 points, 0 podiums | Demoted to Red Bull reserve driver as of 2026 |
Except for Sergio Pérez, the majority of drivers have had very short tenures with the team, sometimes having just a few races to prove their worth. In each of these circumstances, drivers were dropped due to underperforming in comparison to Verstappen.
Testimonials from past Red Bull drivers
When a team is blessed with a talent like Max Verstappen, the needs of any other driver will naturally come second. Following his departure, Alex Albon shared his difficulties with this approach while racing for Red Bull, stating:
“[Verstappen] has a very distinct style of driving, and he likes the car set up a certain way that’s hard for a lot of drivers to sync up with. Of course, you can tinker and tweak your own car, but the Red Bull in general is suited to Max’s style.
“If you play Call of Duty, or a game like that, turn your sensitivity up to the highest it will go. That’s what it’s like to drive that car.”
Albon’s comments highlight the exact problem Red Bull and their second seat drivers are experiencing. Setting up any other driver for success alongside Max Verstappen has proven to be an impossible feat. Even Sergio Pérez has commented on the difficulties of driving alongside Verstappen:
“There are so many things that I could tell you, but it’s simply just a very difficult job for a driver. There is no driver that can survive there.”
Interestingly, the Red Bull organization appears to prioritize driver development. Their sister team, Racing Bulls, is seen as a stepping-stone program. Many drivers have earned a seat at Red Bull after success with this team, including Isack Hadjar. However, if Red Bull wants to continue developing drivers with the goal of a successful career within the team, it’s clear something has to change.
Red Bull may have no problem establishing a number one driver (I’m looking at you, McLaren), but it’s very difficult to win a Constructors’ Championship with only one driver in the points. Red Bull needs a strategy for their second seat to get themselves to the top of the Constructors’ standings again.
Will Hadjar succeed at Red Bull?
Isack Hadjar has had an incredible rookie season, and many signs point towards a bright future in the sport. However, for that future to materialize, he must quickly make an impact at Red Bull in 2026. The team’s expectations are clear, and if Hadjar can’t meet them, his Formula 1 career may be in jeopardy.
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