Isack Hajar Identifies Key Area for Improvement Against Max Verstappen

Midway through the 2026 Formula 1 season, there's still talk of a Red Bull seat, but not about the position that has been under the most pressure in recent years. And perhaps that's the biggest compliment Isack Hajar could receive after his promotion to the Austrian team.

Following Daniel Ricciardo's departure to Renault, drivers like Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson, and Yuki Tsunoda have all, at one point or another, struggled in Red Bull's second car. Hajar, however, has shown no signs of such issues so far, and the 21-year-old Frenchman can look back on a successful start.

Nevertheless, Hajar reveals he hasn't surprised himself. Last year, he stated that the complete overhaul of technical regulations would provide the best opportunity to move to Red Bull, and he now believes this has been confirmed.

This is also reflected in the data. The numbers show that Hajar has, on average, been 0.237 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying so far – a smaller gap than his predecessors in Red Bull's second car. It's worth noting that, according to Verstappen, drivers like him can't make such a significant difference under current regulations, but the fact remains that Hajar has performed very strongly on Saturdays.

However, the Frenchman identifies one clear area where he still needs to improve compared to Verstappen in the second half of the season: race pace.

"I'd say Max is very impressive on Sundays, in every aspect. I think my single-lap pace is quite good, but the way he manages races is on a completely different level. That's what I'm focusing on and working towards," Hajar explained.

This is also confirmed by the data. While Hajar's qualifying deficit is just over two tenths, the difference in race pace is larger. On average, Hajar has lost 0.490 seconds per lap to Verstappen on Sundays, highlighting that this is where there's the most room for improvement.

Beyond his own development, Hajar believes that Red Bull as a team also has a lot of work to do. This became clear once again during the Hungarian Grand Prix, where the young Red Bull driver never felt completely comfortable in the RB22 car.

The positive, however, is that Hajar's feedback aligns with Verstappen's. This benefits not only the technical department, led by Pierre Waché, but also Hajar himself.