Red Bull dismiss talk of early Isack Hadjar F1 promotion before 2026

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has ruled out promoting Isack Hadjar before 2026 after a rumour surfaced during the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok suggested during FP1 that Red Bull were considering promoting Hadjar from Racing Bulls for the final three races of the season.

Chandhok wasn’t keen on the idea, as it could dent Hadjar’s confidence in facing Max Verstappen in unfamiliar machinery.

With new rules coming into play in 2026, Hadjar’s possible arrival will be better suited then, given Red Bull will have an entirely new car and power unit.

Hadjar scored his maiden F1 podium last time out at the Dutch Grand Prix after finishing third.

The Frenchman is widely regarded as F1’s rookie of the year in 2025, and has enjoyed a decisive edge over Liam Lawson since his demotion earlier this year.

Speaking in Friday’s FIA press conference, Mekies was adamant that Red Bull won’t make another mid-season driver change in 2025.

“I think the short answer is yes. I think we made it very clear, very public that we have time with our driver decision,” Mekies said.

“We have enough drivers between the driver programme to cover quite a few scenarios for next year. We don’t have a real reason to rush the decisions. To your point, we don’t plan to change during the season.

“Yuki has been making a good step in the last three races. We all want more but he’s doing a good job. He was first time back in the points after seven races in Zandvoort. He was close enough to Max in Budapest.

“It was his best qualifying with the team at Spa. He’s on a positive trend.”

Red Bull in no rush to decide

Red Bull are not looking externally for drivers, so they’re in no rush to decide who will be Verstappen’s teammate in 2026.

Given his form, Hadjar is the heavy favourite to take the seat.

That leaves an open vacancy at RB for Arvid Lindblad to fill for 2026.

With Cadillac confirming their driver line-up for next year already, Yuki Tsunoda could be without a full-time drive if Red Bull drops him.

Mekies insisted Red Bull are “relaxed” and they have plenty of time to make a decision.

“It’s obviously extremely nice to watch Isack’s progress in the Racing Bulls’ car and to see him performing at the level he did last race, it was a fantastic demonstration of how much progress he’s been making during the season,” Mekies added.

“We’re relaxed about the driver topic because fundamentally we have all the cards on the Red Bull side and we can take a few more weeks or months to decide.

“Of course, it doesn’t mean you have to wait to the last race to decide because we obviously respect that it might impact our drivers in a way or another but for sure, we have time right now.”