Isack Hadjar is fast becoming a serious contender to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing, according to the team's influential advisor, Dr Helmut Marko.
The 20-year-old French-Algerian rookie has made a strong impression during his debut Formula 1 season with the Red Bull-owned Racing Bulls team, and Marko hasn't held back in his praise.
"He is definitely a big surprise," Marko told sport.de.
"He was fast from the start, except for his mistake in Melbourne. Just like Max, he is already on top of things after three laps, even if he doesn't know many circuits."
Despite two significant crashes in Friday practice at Monaco, Hadjar - who repeatedly called himself "stupid" is again being praised for his pace by Marko. "The barriers were too close for him," the 82-year-old joked.
"He should focus on racing rather than making these comments about his intelligence, but it wasn't because of the speed.
"He did hit the wall twice, but he was fast."
While Marko appears willing to overlook Hadjar's growing pains as a rookie, the same leniency doesn't extend to current Red Bull Racing driver Yuki Tsunoda — despite his clear improvement over his predecessors.
"Yuki is a headstrong type, and emotional as well," Marko said.
"He just can't make any mistakes, that's the most important thing."
Tsunoda, now in his fifth season of F1, has outperformed previous Red Bull drivers Liam Lawson and arguably even Sergio Perez in terms of raw pace relative to Verstappen. However, Tsunoda's high-speed rollover crash at Imola means he no longer has the same specification of 2025 car as the one in Verstappen's hands.
In contrast, Hadjar continues to rack up quiet but effective performances.
"He is in Q3 every time, scores in the points every time," Marko noted. "He is inconspicuous, unspectacular, but lightning fast."
And the implication is clear — with more polish, Hadjar could soon find himself promoted.
"With a bit more experience, he can definitely become a candidate," confirmed Marko.
