Hadjar heaps praise on new teammate Verstappen: 'It's a privilege'

14:02, 13 Jan

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byKada Sarkozi

Isack Hadjar calls it a huge privilege to be Max Verstappen's teammate in Formula 1.

"He drives this F1 car like a go kart. That's the difference."

- Isack Hadjar

After a stunning rookie season in 2025, Hadjar was promoted to Red Bull Racing for the 2026 Formula 1 campaign.

Since Daniel Ricciardo's departure, many teammates failed to live up to expectations alongside four-time world champion Verstappen. Looking ahead, the young Frenchman believes it's a 'privilege' to drive alongside him.

He said on the Talking Bull podcast. "I'm just 21 years old, started single-seaters in 2019 and I get to be teammates with the best driver on the grid. It's a huge privilege.

"Without the best car he finished so close to being world champion [in 2025]."

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

The youngster added: "He's always there - when conditions are a bit difficult, he's there, and his ability to turn up in Q3. He always turns up and goes and finds more lap time.

"He drives this F1 car like a go kart. That's the difference."

Hadjar on his mindset heading into the Red Bull challenge

Talking to a select group of media, including GPblog, Hadjar previously explained that he has to accept being slower than Verstappen in the beginning.

About his approach, he said: "I think they (Verstappen's ex-teammates) thought the opposite. Everyone thinks they're special. And you come in, you're like, 'he's a human, I'm going to beat him.' And then you get stomped over. And then the snowball effect starts."

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