Hadjar: Verstappen leaves ‘no time to be lazy’ at Red Bull

Hadjar learning the scale of the Verstappen benchmark

Isack Hadjar says life alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull has left him with “no time to be lazy”, as the Frenchman continues to measure himself against the four-time Formula 1 world champion.

So far, however, Hadjar’s early performance profile has been encouraging. While Verstappen’s advantage over former team-mates was rarely in doubt, Hadjar has already outqualified the established team leader twice and finished within 0.12s of him on another four occasions. That makes his adaptation one of the more intriguing internal contests at Red Bull, particularly as the team continues working to extract more from its package, as explored in our analysis of how Red Bull RB22 weight loss could unlock Verstappen and Hadjar gains.

An open relationship, but not an equal exchange

“He definitely doesn't ask me for advice, but if I ask him, he answers. If I need information, he's very open, very kind. So, he doesn't hide anything because he knows he's strong.”

That final point is telling. Hadjar presents Verstappen not as a guarded reference point, but as a driver secure enough in his own performance to be transparent. For a young team-mate, that openness is valuable — but it does not reduce the intensity of the comparison.

The cost of chasing the limit

Hadjar described the standard Verstappen sets each time the car leaves the garage as relentless.

“There's just no time to be lazy, really,” he said. “It's like every time you go on track, he sets a lap, and it's the highest level you've ever seen, and you're like, 'Okay, I need to make a big step here and there' – and it takes a lot of you to be matching that, and be even just close to that.”

That pressure has come with errors. Hadjar crashed out of the Miami Grand Prix and also hit the wall during free practice in Monaco. His response was pragmatic rather than defensive.

“Ideally you don't repeat them. That's the goal,” he said. “It's not always easy, but I don't really care. I'm young, it's my second year, I make the mistakes now. When I have a car to be world champion, I don't make the mistakes. That's the idea.”

For now, Hadjar’s focus is clear: keep refining his own level while comparing himself to what he calls the best on the grid.