F1 chief reveals timeline for risky Red Bull promotion

Lawson, Tsunoda, Hadjar, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 chief reveals timeline for risky Red Bull promotion

Isack Hadjar has impressed throughout his rookie campaign in F1

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 16 August 2025 09:57

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Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has laid out the planned timeline for the latest exciting young driver's promotion up the Red Bull ranks.

Isack Hadjar has been one of the most impressive of a deep class of new drivers in F1 this season, ripping off a number of excellent qualifying performances to show his raw pace, while frequently backing that up with solid race finishes.

With Yuki Tsunoda struggling mightily after replacing Liam Lawson alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, there have been some calls for Hadjar to be bumped up from the junior team sooner rather than later, especially with Laurent Mekies being moved up from Racing Bulls to replace Christian Horner.

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Bayer has slapped down that notion though, insisting that there is a 'strong alignment' within the team and that while talks about Hadjar's 2026 drive may kick off soon, his spot with Racing Bulls is locked in for the rest of this year.

Drivers partnering Verstappen have had a rough 18 months, likely explaining the organisation's hesitation to stall or undo much of the good work done with Hadjar in the first half of this season.

Hadjar has outscored team-mate Liam Lawson this season

Bayer reveals incredible Hadjar story

“We have strong alignment internally that we need to go through this year calmly, with everyone focusing on their jobs," he told Planet F1.

“I’m sure that, post-summer break, discussions will start about 2026, but honestly, I dare to say that in ’25, we all want to keep it calm and, talking about Isack, give him the chance to grow, to learn. Honestly, he is incredible.”

Bayer also told one instructive story about the French-Algerian driver from a qualifying session earlier this season, admitting: “I’m still struggling to believe it, but it’s what happened.

“I was listening to the radio when he was coming in, the umbilical in. His race engineer [Pierre Hamelin] said: ‘Look, Isack, you’re losing about half a tenth in Turn 6’.

“Isack said to him: ‘Can you be more precise?’ Pierre said, ‘Yes, I can. You’re losing 0.035 of a second in that turn.’ And Isaac said: ‘OK, then I know what to do.’ [And he did it].”

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