Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has confronted the possible promotion of Isack Hadjar to the team after his maiden Formula 1 podium at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Starting fourth, Hadjar scored his first top-three finish at Zandvoort after a calm and assured drive, inheriting third place when Lando Norris retired late on.
It was the biggest watershed moment in the career of the young Frenchman, who has continuously impressed in his first season in the sport with Racing Bulls.
The topic of Hadjar potentially moving to the full Red Bull team from its satellite squad has been a hot-button topic the longer the season has progressed.
With Liam Lawson demoted two races into the season, and Yuki Tsunoda also struggling alongside Max Verstappen, Hadjar’s performances have naturally put him in conversations.
Mekies is only too aware of Hadjar’s personality and abilities, having led the Racing Bulls team prior to taking over from Christian Horner from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards.
And when asked to comment on the 20-year-old’s race, Mekies was full of praise, saying that his first podium was inevitable at some stage.
“You know, for Isaac, it’s an extraordinary race,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “I think you can see it by yourself. I think it was coming.
“It’s just a testimony of how good of a job, of how amazing of a job he has been doing since the beginning of the season.
“And you know, he doesn’t [just] score a podium on a day where it’s a wet race and the strange conditions.
“He put the car in P4 on merit yesterday in qualifying, and he stayed a couple of seconds from Max, all race long, so you know, hats off to him, to Racing Bulls.
“And it’s, you know, it’s, again, it’s just, it doesn’t come by luck, it comes after a lot of hard work from these guys.”
Mekies says Tsunoda ‘has time’ amid Marko’s Mexico deadline
The more Hadjar continues to perform at such a high level, the more Tsunoda may feel the pressure as to the safety of his seat with the team.
Speaking to ORF ahead of the race, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko appeared to place further strain on the Japanese’s stranglehold on the drive.
“He has to get closer to Max and deliver that level of performance consistently,” he stressed.
“That’s why we’ve postponed the option dates further back, and now we’ll look at the upcoming races and then a decision will be made.”
Citing his earlier assertion that Tsunoda would be given until the end of the season to prove himself, the Austrian has seemingly moved the goalposts, adding: “I would say around Mexico,” as to a potential deadline to turn his fortunes around.
When asked if it was a no-brainer that Hadjar will be promoted sooner rather than later, Mekies was coy on exactly when Tsunoda might have until, but said there was “time” to make a decision.
“The truth is, if you step back, look at it from a Red Bull perspective, it’s our drivers, we have them all under contract,” he addressed.
“It’s only us making the decisions, us meaning the Red Bull group, you know, why would you put yourself under pressure based on a result or another?
“So, hence, the simple truth is that we will take our time, there is nine races to go.
“I’m not telling you that we’ll wait until the last race, because also there is a dynamic by which you want to let your driver know, but we have time.”
READ MORE – Isack Hadjar reveals biggest surprise from ‘outstanding’ maiden F1 podium in Dutch GP
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