Hadjar trails Verstappen by 0.49 seconds per lap on Sundays and knows exactly why

Isack Hadjar has made a stronger start to life at Red Bull than any of his recent predecessors in the team’s second seat, but the 21-year-old Frenchman is clear-eyed about where he still falls short of Max Verstappen: Sunday race management.

Halfway through the 2026 Formula 1 season, Hadjar has avoided the turbulence that plagued Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in the same role after Daniel Ricciardo’s departure for Renault. Data from analytics partner Paceteq shows Hadjar has trailed Verstappen by an average of 0.237 seconds in qualifying — a smaller margin than any of those predecessors managed.

Yet the gap on race day tells a different story. Hadjar has conceded an average of 0.490 seconds per lap to Verstappen on Sundays, more than double his qualifying deficit, and he acknowledges the disparity openly.

“I would say Max has been very impressive on Sundays, all around,” Hadjar said. “I think my one-lap pace has been pretty good, but how well he is managing the races is on a different level. That’s what I’m focusing on and working on.”

Hadjar also pushed back on any suggestion that his early-season form has caught him off guard. He had said before the campaign began that the sweeping 2026 technical regulation overhaul represented the ideal moment to step up from RB to the senior team, and he believes that assessment has been borne out.

“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,” he said. “That’s normal because it’s my second season. I’m still not very experienced, but I’m improving a bit.”

It is worth noting that Verstappen himself has suggested the current regulations limit how much a driver can extract relative to the machinery, but the four-time world champion’s race-day advantage over his team-mate remains substantial by any measure.

Beyond his own development, Hadjar indicated that Red Bull as a whole still has work to do in the second half of the season, a point underlined by the team’s difficulties at the Hungarian Grand Prix.