Hamilton ‘not worried about’ Hadjar’s Red Bull promotion, but offers advice

09:12, 05 Dec

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byKada Sarkozi

Lewis Hamilton hopes Red Bull Racing will have the right environment for Isack Hadjar.

"I'm not going to lie, it doesn't worry me. I think he's done an amazing job this year."

- Lewis Hamilton

Ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Red Bull family confirmed its line-ups for the 2026 F1 season. Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad will compete for Racing Bulls, while Isack Hadjar will join Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing.

Talking to F1 TV in Abu Dhabi, the seven-time world champion reacted to news of the young Frenchman’s promotion.

He said: "I'm not going to lie, it doesn't worry me. I think he's done an amazing job this year and he's still very, very young. He's still learning a lot about himself and his surroundings, but he's done a phenomenal job this year.

"He's got a great approach. We all know what happens when people go to Red Bull and the environment that you're thrown into.

"Obviously I've not been there so I can't tell from experience, but from looking from the outside it's obviously quite difficult. Where he is, it seems like a really good environment."

Hadjar will drive for Red Bull Racing in 2026 after an impressive rookie year - Photo: Race Pictures

Hadjar will become Verstappen's seventh teammate at Red Bull Racing. Hamilton also hopes the Austrians make the necessary changes to better accommodate the young driver.

He continued: "Yuki [Tsunoda] is an amazing driver, but every driver that goes there has this general experience. But it doesn't mean those drivers aren't great. It's clearly something else. So I just hope that there are changes made that provide him with the right support."

Hadjar's mindset heading into his next chapter

Talking to a select group of media, including GPblog, Hadjar reflected on how to approach being Verstappen's teammate.

He explained: "If anything, the goal is to accept that I'm going to be slower the first month. And I think that if you go into that mindset, you accept already, it's going to be very tough.

"Looking at the data and seeing things you can't achieve yet, it's going to be very frustrating. But if you know, then you're more prepared."

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