Isack Hadjar has reflected on the first half of his first season as a Formula 1 driver with Red Bull, conceding that in one particular area, teammate Max Verstappen is on a “different level”.
The Frenchman’s first campaign with the Milton Keynes-based squad has been fraught with some indifferent performance from the RB22, which powered by its first in-house engine, built with Ford.
Verstappen has been unable to muster a single victory so far this season, but has found Hadjar, on many occasions, to be closer to him than many of his predecessors in that much-talked-about second seat.
His promotion was earned after a stellar debut season with satellite outfit Racing Bulls, on which he scored points on a multitude of occasions, including a maiden podium in Zandvoort.
Summing up his first half of 2026 with the main team, Hadjar said: “I actually haven’t surprised myself this year, to be honest. I’ve just been driving at a high level – definitely better than last year.
“That’s normal, because it’s my second season, so I’m not very experienced, but I’m improving a bit.”
Hadjar has managed to out-qualify Verstappen on three occasions, no mean feat by any stretch of the imagination, and with the Dutchman used as a rule of thumb to drive a tricky car, the stat is perhaps more impressive.
But Hadjar admitted that come race day, the four-time World Champion is on another level.
“I would say Max has been very impressive on Sundays all around,” he said. “I think my one-lap pace has been pretty good, but how well he is managing the races is on a different level
“So, that’s what I’m focusing on working on.”
Hadjar will return with F1 at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of the month – the scene of his greatest career moment so far.
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