Formula 1: Isack Hadjar 'wouldn't feel ready' for any early Red Bull promotion but 'always up for the call'
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar has enjoyed an impressive start to his career in F1, but content to complete season at Red Bull's junior team; F1 next heads back to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix on June 27-29, live on Sky Sports F1
Wednesday 18 June 2025 15:53, UK
Isack Hadjar has admitted he "wouldn't feel ready" for a "scary" mid-season promotion to the senior Red Bull team.
The 20-year-old rookie has proved one of the unexpected stars of the season at Racing Bulls, scoring points in five of his 10 races and delivering 75 per cent of the team's constructors' total so far.
After Red Bull swapped Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson around after the season's first two rounds, Hadjar has outqualified the latter 7-1 and finished ahead in all their races together despite the New Zealander's greater experience.
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Tsunoda, meanwhile, has yet to make a breakthrough in the senior Red Bull seat next to Max Verstappen, leading to suggestions - which the team have played down - that Hadjar could become a contender for the seat.in the near future.
Asked at the Canadian Grand Prix if he would be ready to drive a Red Bull, Hadjar said: "It's a bit scary. I wouldn't feel ready.
"I'm just nine races in and it looks to be complicated when I look at Yuki and Liam, who are very quality drivers.
"I'm not very ready but I would always be up for the call, that's for sure."
Sky Sports F1's Nico Rosberg had suggested at the previous race in Spain, where Hadjar went on to finish seventh, that the Frenchman should "flat decline" any invitation to step up given the struggles of Verstappen's team-mates.
Asked if he agreed with suggestions that an early promotion would be tough for him, Hadjar said: "It's fair to say that because Liam and Yuki are quality drivers, so it's normal to think that. I'm just curious, that's the only word I can use, of being next to Max. That's the only thing I can say.
"For sure, I don't feel ready, that's a fact. It's good to take experience where I'm at. I'm enjoying so much every weekend, learning a lot.
"It's a car I enjoy driving. We will see in the future. But obviously as a Red Bull junior driver, the trajectory is normal to go there."
Asked if it would therefore be good to complete the full season at Racing Bulls, Hadjar replied: "Yes."
Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer recently joked that "we'll just have to handcuff him" if Red Bull came calling early for Hadjar.
"It just means I'm well integrated into the team," replied Hadjar when told of Bayer's comments.
"They like me and I'm happy where I'm at right now. They value me quite high, so I can only be grateful and I'm very happy with the current situation. It's very good for a rookie."
Horner sees progress for Tsunoda despite point-less run
Tsunoda has now completed eight race weekends at Red Bull but has so far only registered points finishes in three Grands Prix - a ninth in Bahrain followed by 10th places in Miami and Imola.
He has failed to add to his tally at the last three races, with hopes of a top-10 result in Canada from 11th on the grid effectively undone by a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri under red flags in final practice - a sanction the Japanese driver strongly disputed.
He recovered to 12th in the race, two places outside the points, and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said afterwards: "To do a one-stop on that tyre, and once you've gone through the graining the tyres cleaned up again, I thought he actually did a decent job.
"You can see how hard overtaking is here. Actually, I thought Yuki, he should have taken some confidence out of it. If he'd have started in his normal grid position that he qualified, he would have scored points."
On Tsunoda's ongoing process of adapting to what the team themselves have previously acknowledged as a difficult RB21 car to drive, Horner added: "Trying to avoid what other drivers have gone down the road of trying to adopt Max's set-up, is to go his own route and work on what suits his style and his needs and I think they've made some progress on that this weekend.
"It's the same spec as he had in Imola and now back to where he's with Max. So, yeah, hopefully he'll take some real positives out of the weekend."
Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 from June 27-29. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime.
