Red Bull make Isack Hadjar decision ahead of Italian Grand Prix

Red Bull plan to give young French star Isack Hadjar a contract extension as reward for an impressive 2026 F1 season so far.

The 21-year-old Parisian has been a positive for the struggling Milton Keynes team as he makes a relative success of the toughest job in the sport - team-mate to the great Max Verstappen.

While the mighty Dutchman is always Red Bull's unquestioned priority, the team have struggled to find the right number two driver to back him up. In recent years the likes of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have all tried and failed.

Only Sergio Perez has come close to being a long-term fixture in what is a challenging role, but now Hadjar is showing signs that he could be that man.

He currently sits in eighth position in the Drivers' standings and things would have been better still had he not been denied a podium at the Monaco Grand Prix by Alpine's post-race Pierre Gasly appeal.

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Second seat at Red Bull 'still open for 2027'

The second seat at Red Bull is one of the biggest question marks remaining in F1 silly season 2026, with Verstappen already signed up through to 2030 on an enormous contract extension.

According to respected German outlet Auto Motor und Sport, that question mark should be erased very soon with Red Bull set to offer Hadjar a contract extension.

The report says Red Bull are genuinely satisfied with Hadjar's performances so far in 2026, and he is now seen as a valuable asset in Milton Keynes and Salzburg.

Now we wait to see if Isack will return to action at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend - he missed the Dutch Grand Prix after fracturing a wrist in training. A decision is expected imminently after Liam Lawson deputised at Zandvoort.

Red Bull in rebuild mode with new signings

Re-signing Hadjar would be another positive move for Red Bull as they look to rebuild after losing so many stars from their glory years.

The likes of Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Helmut Marko and Rob Marshall have all left and Gianpiero Lambiase has already confirmed he will leave for McLaren.

Reinforcements are coming though, with ace Mercedes talent scout Gwen Lagrue set to replace Marko and Aston Martin chief Tom McCullough about to replace Lambiase as Head of Racing.

The team also had a major win in keeping chief engineer Paul Monaghan with a counteroffer heading off what appeared likely to be an exit to Cadillac.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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