Hadjar pushed to escape Red Bull ‘curse’: Rosberg and former F1 driver sound the alarm

Rosberg stated: “If I was Hadjar, if ever the team started to mention (the possibility of a promotion to Red Bull), I would literally decline, decline as hard as you possibly can."

As GPblog was able to confirm ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix when Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull, Racing Bulls drivers cannot turn down the promotion to the Milton Keynes-based outfit, as the reason they are at the sister team is to eventually move on up to the main squad.

The former F1 champion isn't the only one who's urged Hadjar to steer clear and far from Red Bull's path. Former F1 driver and current motorsport analyst Christijan Albers also had advice for the French driver.

The Dutch analyst said in the Formula 1 podcast by De Telegraaf that if he were Hadjar's management, he would do everything to get him out of the Red Bull family. He pointed to Gasly and Sainz, who have built long Formula 1 careers outside the Red Bull teams.

For now, Hadjar is still at Racing Bulls. Yet, there might already be a change in the short term, even if only for one race. Verstappen currently has eleven penalty points. With twelve penalty points, a driver gets suspended, so as a precaution, it's already being considered who his replacement will be in case of suspension. According to De Telegraaf, Red Bull has narrowed it down to Hadjar or Liam Lawson.

In the championship, Hadjar has made some great strides in recent weeks. The Racing Bulls driver placed sixth in Monaco and seventh in Spain. Thus, he is eleven points ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, his former teammate and Verstappen's current teammate.

Tsunoda has so far done marginally better than the driver he replaced at Red Bull to begin with. In fact, a worrying stat sums up the way his tenure at the Austrian team has been going for the Japanese driver alongside Verstappen.