Isack Hadjar “has an idea” about Red Bull’s plans for his 2026 contract amid reports he’s set to replace Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s teammate next year.

German publication Auto Motor und Sport reported this week that team management has resolved to replace Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing at the end of the year, with rookie Hadjar the favoured alternative.

Hadjar made a low-key start to his maiden Formula 1 campaign this year with a crash in the wet on the formation lap for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he has impressed ever since.

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The Frenchman is ninth in the title standings and behind only Alex Albon among the midfield drivers after claiming his breakthrough podium at the Dutch Grand Prix last month.

That performance triggered Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko to describe him as a “special” talent.

With Marko remaining influential in the arrangement of drivers between Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, his comments appeared to give momentum to Hadjar’s promotion to the senior team as Verstappen’s teammate.

The 20-year-old was coy when asked about the rumours in the build-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, though he refused to deny them.

“I have an idea, but I don’t know,” he said, per ESPN. “I don’t care [about reports], I really don’t care. I had like five days off at home. I had other things to do than scrolling on Instagram.”

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Red Bull Racing boss Laurent Mekies said last month that the energy drinks brand would take its time deciding on the composition of its four-car line-up. Only Verstappen is contracted beyond the end of the year, while Tsunoda, Hadjar and Liam Lawson are all unsigned.

Marko told Austrian broadcaster ORF that a decision will be made around the time of the Mexico City Grand Prix in the middle of October.

Red Bull’s hand is strengthened by there being few alternatives for its drivers on the market.

Even if the decision to promote Hadjar is as good as made, it’s unclear whether that would see Tsunoda exit the Red Bull program completely.

Though Arvid Lindblad is in the frame for promotion to the Racing Bulls team next season, the young British driver is in just his first season in Formula 2. He’s currently seventh on the title table with one feature victory on his record.

There is a scenario in which Lindblad remains in Formula 2 and Tsunoda’s skin is saved by taking Hadjar’s vacated seat at Racing Bulls.

That would presumably require at least a small uplift in results, however.

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The Japanese driver has scored just nine points since switching to Red Bull Racing at the Japanese Grand Prix and is 19th on the title table ahead of only the scoreless Franco Colapinto and the axed Jack Doohan.

Verstappen has outscored him by 185 points in their time as teammates.

While Tsunoda said in Baku on Thursday that “every race is crucial” for his career, he said he wasn’t spending time thinking about his future.

“The only things I’m thinking about is just staying at Red Bull next year, so I’m not really thinking about a possible situation when I’m going back to Racing Bulls or whatever,” he said, per The Race.

“But yeah, if that would be something I’ll think about that when that thing happened. I was staying there for four long years and I know the people, but at the same time, I moved on already to a new chapter.”

Tsunoda also said his struggles were made to look worse than they really were.

“It probably looks like a difficult moment, but actually it’s given me a lot of progress as a human and as a driver,” he added.

It would be surprising, however, if Tsunoda were not considering contingencies.

Alpine is the only team with a seat more than just nominally open, with Franco Colapinto unconfirmed beyond the end of the season.

Honda-backed Tsunoda has also been connected to a reserve role at Aston Martin, to which the Japanese engine builder will supply power units from next year. Fernando Alonso is under contract in 2026 but without a deal for 2027, which could offer Tsunoda a path back onto the grid.

Lawson, who could also find himself without a drive in a potential driver shuffle, suggested this week that he was looking beyond the Red Bull brand to keep his Formula 1 career alive.

“It’s obviously hard to know,” he said when asked where he would be racing in 2026.

“As drivers, the main thing for us is to be in Formula 1, so we’re focused on securing a seat. Honestly, that’s my goal at the moment.

“I spent a long time — especially joining [the Red Bull program] as a junior at 17 — just looking at how to get to Red Bull Racing. That was where I saw my future.

“Not that I forgot why I do it, but that was so much of the goal. It’s easier now to sit back and realise the goal has always been winning and getting to the top, and it doesn’t need to be specific to where that is.”

The Kiwi added Racing Bulls remained his best option given the death of alternatives, however.

“Right now it’s mostly talks with Red Bull and trying to secure a seat where I am at the moment,” he said. “Beyond that, I think it’s at a point where most of them [other seats] are pretty much gone, I would say.”

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Hadjar’s possible elevation to Red Bull Racing just one year into his Formula 1 career raises obvious questions about his preparedness for the most difficult task in Formula 1.

All five of Verstappen’s teammates have struggled and eventually been sacked since Daniel Ricciardo quit the team at the end of 2018.

Pierre Gasly lasted just 12 rounds in the seat before being dumped back to the then Toro Rosso team. His successor, Alex Albon, made it 18 months before being axed. He spent a year off the grid before joining Williams in 2022.

Sergio Pérez lasted three years before his results were so dire that Red Bull Racing sacked him, paying off a contract he had signed but had yet to begin.

Lawson got just two races at the start of the year before being demoted to Racing Bulls, while Tsunoda seems set to be canned after 22 races.

The long line of carnage has made clear that Red Bull Racing’s car is at least part of the problem, with only Verstappen able to tame the team’s skittish machines.

Hadjar, however, believes his elevation in 2026 wouldn’t come with the same risk given the sweeping regulation changes due next year.

“2026 is a different question because it’s a brand-new start for the team,” he said, per Autosport. “There won’t be this talk of the second car thing. This wouldn’t be a thing, because it’s a brand-new car for everyone.”

Asked what advice he would have for Hadjar, Lawson said self-confidence would be key.

“It’s a very tough place to be,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re all racing drivers; we have to have enough self-confidence to be in the sport. We don’t come here thinking other people are better than us, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.

“I think just have faith in yourself. He’s done a good job this year. If that’s the case, just focus on the job, prepare the best you can and don’t listen to everything that’s said about what it’s going to be like — nobody actually knows, only the guys that have done it.”