Verstappen names the Red Bull driver he wants to take over when he leaves F1

Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen signed a deal until the end of the 2030 with Red Bull Racing.

When the interviewer asked him outright whether Hadjar could take over his role once he leaves Formula 1 at the Austrian outfit, he did not hedge. He told Canal+: "That’s what I hope. As I said, I’m not racing here forever. He has a few years on me, so hopefully he can stay around for a bit longer."

Verstappen presented the succession question as a normal part of how a team works. "So, I slowly start to feel a little bit old having a younger teammate by quite a few years. But that’s a normal process, and that’s also what, as a team, you should be looking for, right?"

He added: "I'm not going to race forever, and at one point you need new talent coming into the team to try and take over at one point."

The four-time world champion also praised how long Hadjar has been part of the system, pointing out that "even when he was still not racing in Formula 1, he's been around to some of the races, listening in and following." He described the 22-year-old as a team-ate who "has been great. He's just getting started, but it has been really nice."

Over the past few years, since Daniel Ricciardo left the team, Red Bull Racing has struggled with Verstappen’s teammates falling well behind the Dutchman, with Sergio Perez’s brief spell of success being the exception.

Hadjar has done better than most of his predecessors, and became the first driver since Perez to out-qualify Verstappen on merit at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The championship table tells a less flattering story, although Hadjar had to miss three races with a wrist injury and he experienced power unit issues over the last rounds. With six rounds remaining in the 2026 season, Verstappen sits fourth in the drivers' championship with 221 points, while Hadjar is eighth with 97 points.

The team has already shown it believes in Hadjar. Red Bull confirmed his contract extension ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Team principal Laurent Mekies said: "It was really, really easy. He has done a very, very strong first part of the year. First, with his natural speed, then, with the way he has integrated with the team very quickly in the early weeks. He moved to the UK, he was pretty much every other week with us in Milton Keynes. And then, not less importantly, the way he has progressed through the races. We have really seen him doing something a bit better pretty much every race weekend. And therefore, it was a very, very easy decision to make."

If both drivers serve out their current plans, the timing could suit a handover. Hadjar will be 26 when Verstappen's contract expires.