'Hadjar has shot at greatness, but Verstappen remains the biggest obstacle'

17:42, 19 Nov

byOlly Darcy

Guenther Steiner says Isack Hadjar could be "one of the greats" in Formula 1 if he settles into a potent Red Bull seat in 2026, but warns the Frenchman of Max Verstappen.

"When an opportunity like this comes along, you have to take it."

- Guenther Steiner

The final two seats left for the 2026 season are at the Austrian team, and their sister team, Racing Bulls, with a decision yet to be made on who will partner with Verstappen.

Hadjar, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad are the names floating around to finalise the grid, and Steiner already knows who he would choose to join Red Bull.

"I would put Isack Hadjar [in the second Red Bull]", explained the former Haas boss to RTL and sport.de.

"He has shown that he is also mentally stable. When you see what happened in Australia, many thought he was already broken when he parked the car on the formation lap."

Isack Hadjar spun and crashed during the formation lap in his first-ever F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix - Photo: RacePictures

That crash and retirement in Melbourne before the race got underway resulted in a tearful French-Algerian driver who was consoled by Lewis Hamilton's father, Anthony Hamilton, while Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko called the whole thing an 'embarrassment'.

However, since then, the 20-year-old has impressed greatly, sitting P10 in the drivers' standings with 43 points to his name, with Steiner seeing him "only getting better" after his Albert Park problems.

"When an opportunity like this comes along, you have to take it. You can't say, 'I don't want to go there because others have failed.' It's certainly a challenge, but if it works out, you'll truly be one of the greats."

Hadjar warned about teammate-machine Verstappen

But Steiner also appreciates that having Verstappen as a teammate is one of the toughest tests for a driver: "Many have felt ready, but failed because of Max."

Alex Albon raced alongside the four-time world champion in 2019 and 2020, appreciating the raw speed that Verstappen possesses that many others can't match.

Sergio Perez also had his struggles at Red Bull while teammates with the Dutchman, stating that it is 'impossible to survive in Red Bull next to Verstappen'.

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