Red Bull keeps Isack Hadjar alongside Verstappen for 2027
Red Bull will keep the same driver lineup for 2027. Isack Hadjar stays alongside Max Verstappen, who recently extended his own deal to 2030. The announcement came in the week Hadjar returns to racing: he is back in the cockpit in Baku this weekend after missing three rounds. Team principal Laurent Mekies points to what the 21-year-old has shown since his first weekend in Melbourne.
What Red Bull announced
The team announced the decision on September 23, 2026. Hadjar has signed a contract extension and will spend a second season with the Milton Keynes team as the four-time world champion's teammate.
Mekies said the team was very excited to continue working with Hadjar. According to the team principal, Hadjar has performed excellently on and off track since joining at the start of the year, especially given that it is only his second season in Formula 1, which made the extension an easy decision.
Mekies added that Hadjar spent every minute at the factory with the engineers from the start, working on developing the car. He said it was already clear after the first weekend in Melbourne that Hadjar had made the step up with remarkable composure and had earned the seat.
Hadjar's path to the second Red Bull seat
Hadjar has been part of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2022. Red Bull guided him through Formula 3 and Formula 2, where he lost a close 2024 title fight to Gabriel Bortoleto.
He moved from a reserve driver role to a race seat at Racing Bulls for 2025 and scored his first career podium at Zandvoort in his rookie year. In 2026 he replaced Yuki Tsunoda at the senior Red Bull team.
The second Red Bull seat has changed hands frequently for years. In 2024 the team extended Sergio Pérez's contract by two years, then replaced him with Liam Lawson after that season. Lawson lasted two rounds at the start of 2025, and his successor, Yuki Tsunoda, finished the 2025 season with the largest points deficit to a teammate in F1 history.
Hadjar's 2026 season in numbers
Despite missing three rounds, Hadjar is eighth in the drivers' championship with 71 points. His first podium for Red Bull came in Monaco, in his sixth start for the team. The result was initially taken away from him, then reinstated after a drawn-out appeals process concerning a penalty for Pierre Gasly.
He also put together a run of seven consecutive top-six finishes. Motorsport.com notes that he did it in a car that was the third- or fourth-fastest on the grid for most of the season.
Before his injury, Hadjar had 71 points to Verstappen's 109. Three rounds later, Verstappen has 145. In The Race's assessment, Hadjar is probably the closest of all Verstappen's teammates since Daniel Ricciardo, although the same outlet says he has been helped by the tighter field that followed the introduction of new cars and power units for 2026.
Return in Baku after a broken wrist
A broken wrist ruled Hadjar out of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Madrid Grand Prix. His last race before the injury was the Hungarian Grand Prix in July 2026, and he returns at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. According to a RaceFans headline, Hadjar admits the wrist will keep hurting for some time.
Mekies acknowledged that the period since the injury had been difficult for Hadjar, but said the extension shows how strongly the team believes in him and that Red Bull is looking forward to seeing him back on track.
Hadjar said that from the moment he signed, he decided to dedicate himself fully to the team, and that with the support of Mekies and everyone in Milton Keynes he had been able to justify the trust placed in him. He described driving alongside a four-time world champion like Max as a privilege and said he tries every day to listen, learn and push his own limits.
What it means for Lawson and Racing Bulls
Hadjar staying at Red Bull closes the door on a 2027 return to the senior team for Liam Lawson, who races for Racing Bulls. Racing Bulls has not yet confirmed its lineup for next season.
According to The Race, rookie Arvid Lindblad is virtually certain to stay. Lawson performed well as Hadjar's stand-in and has had a strong season, which makes him the favorite to keep his seat. Red Bull does, however, have Nikola Tsolov in reserve: the Red Bull junior is a Formula 2 title contender waiting for his F1 debut.
Frequently asked questions
Which season does Hadjar's Red Bull extension cover?
The 2027 season. Red Bull announced on September 23, 2026, that Hadjar will remain Verstappen's teammate, so the team's 2027 lineup is unchanged from 2026.
When does Hadjar return from injury?
At the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, after missing the Dutch, Italian and Madrid rounds with a broken wrist. His last race before the injury was the Hungarian Grand Prix in July 2026.
Who will drive for Racing Bulls in 2027?
The team has not confirmed its lineup. The Race reports that Arvid Lindblad is virtually certain to stay and that Liam Lawson is the favorite to keep his seat, with Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov also waiting in line.