Marko sees room for improvements in Hadjar amid Red Bull rumors

Speaking at the end of the first day on track in Baku, the Austrian advisor stated: "He had now about 16 Grands Prix or so, and he's still learning. And he has a very good relationship with his engineer. He is also French, that helps. But he just has to keep going and developing like he is.

The 2026 season will represent a reset for everyone, both in terms of the current gaps between teams and for the drivers, who will have to learn a new way of driving the cars, with significantly higher electric power than today and a radically different approach to hybrid management.

According to Marko, this could benefit the Frenchman in a potential move to Red Bull alongside Verstappen: "Of course these ground-effect cars are very special. Through the regulations it will be a completely new sort of driving; you have to use a lot of your brain for the recovery system. So I think it's a good time for a movement."

Also on Friday, during the press conference dedicated to team principals, Alan Permane—who took over from Laurent Mekies in early July following Christian Horner’s dismissal—highlighted Hadjar’s qualities and noted that he is very open to listening to feedback.

The RB team principal also addressed one of the hottest topics of the weekend: Hadjar’s possible promotion to Red Bull. Like Marko, however, he hinted that a decision on the matter will only be made later on.

The Frenchman ended the morning’s FP1 with the tenth-fastest time compared to his teammate’s seventh. In the afternoon, Lawson once again seemed more at ease than Hadjar, who finished thirteenth, half a second adrift.