F1 2026: Red Bull must ‘meet in the middle’ to avoid repeat of painful driver axing

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Red Bull must ‘meet in the middle’ to avoid repeat of painful driver axing

2026 could be make or break for Max Verstappen's latest team-mate

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 10 March 2026 15:58

Red Bull have been advised to 'meet in the middle' when it comes to making hasty driver decisions as Isack Hadjar faces a challenging year at the main F1 squad.

The French-Algerian racer has become the latest Red Bull development driver to have made their way through the rankings, all the way up to becoming team-mates with four-time champion Max Verstappen.

During his rookie season in the sport last year, he made a name for himself and proved he deserved a permanent spot on the grid.

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Hadjar even joined Verstappen on the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, something that Yuki Tsunoda, the Dutchman's team-mate at the time, never came close to doing.

It was likely this triumph when paired with Tsunoda's failure to contribute enough points to Red Bull's constructors' campaign, that saw the Japanese star axed from the full-time role to make way for Hadjar at the main team in 2026.

In his sophomore F1 campaign, the 21-year-old has his work cut out to prevent his career from meeting a similar ill-fated end, but in a recent conversation with GPFans, it was suggested that Red Bull's days of brutal driver swaps are behind them thanks to the major leadership reshuffle that took place in 2025.

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Horner and Marko Red Bull exits 'no bad thing'

Speaking exclusively to GPFans on the launch day of the new Up to Speed podcast, F1 presenter and host Jolie Sharpe was joined by ex-driver and analyst Naomi Schiff to discuss the new season.

Schiff weighed in on the disaster unfolding at Aston Martin, whilst Sharpe noted that a major change in approach looks to be taking place at Red Bull in 2026.

Looking ahead to the challenge of holding his own alongside Verstappen, Sharpe was asked if Red Bull's previous cutthroat approach to drivers would continue where Hadjar was concerned.

But the F1 presenter admitted she felt the energy drink giants could benefit from showing some patience this year, pointing to the bombshell exits of Christian Horner and Helmut Marko as 'no bad thing' if it brings positive change to the team that Laurent Mekies has inherited.

"I think there will be a change, there was a lot of changes last season with Horner, with Marko leaving, it’s no bad thing that there’s going to be some change," Sharpe said.

"You can’t take away the success that has come under both Horner and Marko but also, throwback to Australia (2025), the formation lap, what Marko came out and said after Hadjar had that crash, Hadjar was just incredible and immense to bounce back but we saw Marko’s opinion and Hamilton’s dad’s opinion and you see the difference in how you deal with that situation and I think Red Bull could probably do with a bit of meeting in the middle.

Hadjar driver swap would be 'no fun' for Red Bull

Sharpe concluded by adding that a hasty driver swap or sacking would not be ideal for Red Bull, saying: "I’m sure they don’t want to have so many swapping seats either, it’s not fun for them, I’m feeling rather optimistic for the Red Bull, RB family."

It certainly wouldn't be fun or sensible for Red Bull to swap Hadjar out as early on as they did with Liam Lawson, who was demoted back down to Racing Bulls after just two races alongside Verstappen in 2025.

Additionally, Red Bull are running out of options for drivers within their development pool, with Mekies likely to be looking for stability in his lineup having taken over the role of team principal following Horner's exit.

Besides, Hadjar showed serious promise during his first weekend as a Red Bull F1 driver, with the team solely relying on him in Saturday's qualifying after Verstappen crashed out of the session in Q1.

Though Hadjar stunned by qualifying in P3 ahead of Sunday's race, his bad luck in Melbourne sadly continued after he was forced to retire with a technical failure on lap 12 of Sunday's race.

However, he is well placed to bounce back in China this weekend having had to do the same thing last year after his devastating formation lap crash at the 2025 Australian GP.

Up To Speed with David Coulthard, Will Buxton, Naomi Schiff and Jolie Sharpe is available wherever you get your podcasts on Mondays and Thursdays.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Red Bull Christian Horner Helmut Marko Isack Hadjar Arvid Lindblad