‘Powerless’ Isack Hadjar admission as even ‘handcuffs’ would fail to stop Red Bull

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer admits he is “powerless” to prevent Red Bull from taking Isack Hadjar should the Milton Keynes team want him as Max Verstappen’s F1 2026 team-mate.

Hadjar made history last Sunday as the first Racing Bulls driver to secure a podium under the team’s present moniker when he brought his VCARB 02 home in third place at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Has Isack Hadjar already booked his promotion to Red Bull?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Qualifying a career high P4 at the Zandvoort circuit, the Frenchman held his own against Charles Leclerc and George Russell to run fourth behind Verstappen, before earning a late promotion to the podium when Lando Norris’ McLaren’s engine expired.

Hadjar not only scored Racing Bulls’ first podium, but he also became the youngest Frenchman to stand on the F1 rostrum.

And he might just have cemented himself a promotion to Red Bull Racing already.

On a day when Yuki Tsunoda broke his seven-race point-less streak with a P9, Hadjar stole the plaudits with his third-placed finish in which he was just two seconds down on Red Bull racer Verstappen.

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has revealed he’s delaying the decision on who will partner Verstappen until October to give Red Bull more time to evaluate the candidates.

“We’ve extended the options, or rather, the drivers have extended them with us,” Marko told Sky Deutschland in Zandvoort.

“So, around September or October, we want to have a few more races to observe, and then we’ll make the decisions.”

But in a season in which Hadjar has scored 37 points to Tsunoda’s 12, Racing Bulls CEO Bayer admits he’d like to hang onto the 20-year-old a bit longer.

“For heaven’s sake, don’t take this talent away from us too soon,” he told Blick earlier this season as rumours emerged claiming Hadjar could replace Tsunoda mid-season.

“He should get to know the whole business by the end of 2026. Until then, we’ll just have to handcuff him!”

But with that threat negated when Marko insisted Tsunoda would see out the season with Red Bull, Bayer concedes there is nothing Racing Bulls can go to hold onto Hadjar for F1 2026 if Red Bull want him.

“I told Blick months ago that we would have to handcuff Hadjar to hold him,” he told Blick after the Zandvoort race.

“If Red Bull wants him, we are powerless.”

Hadjar was quizzed on his future when he spoke with the media, including PlanetF1.com, in the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

The 20-year-old reckons 2026 with its complete regulatory reset would be the perfect opportunity to join Red Bull as the all-new cars could put a pin in all the talk about Red Bull’s second seat.

“To be honest at the start of the year you were asking me if I was ready to jump in the Red Bull this year and the answer is still no because I don’t see the point of doing that right now,” he said.

“’26 is a different question.

“It’s a brand new start for the team, there won’t be this talk about this second car thing because it is a brand new car for everyone.

“So I think this is actually interesting.”

The new rules would also make it “way easier” to make the step up to Red Bull.

Asked if it is going to happen, he replied: “It’s obviously something I have in mind and there are nine races left to prove I can keep doing a very good job.”

“I want to try for the for the best team,” he added, “and that’s all I want really.”

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