It has been far from plain sailing at Red Bull so far this year, and with one driver down and one struggling in the second seat, Formula 1 rookie Isack Hadjar is potentially in line for a shock promotion.
The Frenchman, who came second in the Formula 2 championship last year, was plucked out from Red Bull’s junior programme and into its sister team Racing Bulls for this year.
Despite a sketchy start, in which he spun into retirement on the formation lap in Australia, Hadjar has significantly impressed in the team, taking five top 10 finishes so far.
His maturity and speed see him currently sitting in ninth place in the Drivers’ Championship, with 21 points.
Hadjar’s performances have therefore surely placed him on the radar of both Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, who are finding themselves witnessing Yuki Tsunoda, Hadjar’s original team-mate, struggling in the main team alongside Max Verstappen.
Despite having improved on Liam Lawson’s two performances at the start of the season, the Japanese driver is now himself unable to extract enough from the RB21 to see him get close to the number one man.
However, the level of poison that appears to be in the chalice that is the Red Bull second seat is so high that a former World Champion has urged Hadjar to reject the call should it come.
Speaking in his role as pundit for Sky F1, Nico Rosberg stated: “If I was Hadjar now, if ever the team starts to mention [a promotion], I would literally decline.
“Like, decline as hard as you possibly can. Because he’s doing such a great job there with the RBs, he’s in a great position, just flat decline and say, ‘No way.’ You need to do that, like decline.”
Will Hadjar heed the Rosberg warning?
Rosberg’s strong views on the issue might be met with little agreement, given Hadjar has already publicly stated his willingness to take on the role if he is asked to do so.
Hadjar said that he was “not planning” to join the team, but conveyed his keenness to join if asked, saying: “I would say I’m ready, even if I’m not, I’d say I’m ready.”
But it appears that despite putting himself forward for the drive if the situation came about, Hadjar will be set to stay put at Racing Bulls.
Marko has this week written in his Speedweek column that he expects Tsunoda to see out the season, despite the “serious” concern about his performances.
Horner has also said that “time is on our side” when it comes to Tsunoda hopefully improving in the car, and he has also received the support of Verstappen, who declared that he is “not a pancake.”
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