Red Bull have announced they are to sign Isack Hadjar to drive alongside Max Verstappen at the team next year. The 20-year-old Frenchman is being promoted from sister squad Racing Bulls after only one season in F1 to replace Yuki Tsunoda in 2026, while the 18-year-old British driver Arvid Lindblad is to join Racing Bulls to make his F1 debut.

Hadjar has been impressive in his rookie year in the sport, taking his debut podium at the Dutch GP and a series of points finishes that have moved him up to 10th in the drivers’ championship. He has demonstrated confidence and assurance, outscoring and repeatedly out qualifying the New Zealander Liam Lawson who will continue at Racing Bulls.

Hadjar said: “I’m so grateful to Red Bull for giving me the opportunity and trust to race at the highest level of Formula One. After all the hard work I have put in since joining the junior team, it’s such a great reward. I’ve had many ups and downs throughout my career, and they kept believing and pushing me.”

Hadjar, who is of Algerian descent, became part of the Red Bull junior programme in 2022 and was runner-up in the F2 championship in 2024 before joining Racing Bulls.

Tsunoda, who was promoted to Red Bull at the third race of the season in Japan to replace Lawson who had completed just two races with the team, will be retained as test and reserve driver for 2026. The Japanese driver is considered to have underperformed, scoring only 30 points since joining Red Bull and is 15th in the championship.

For much of that period the car was a handful to drive with even Verstappen struggling, but since upgrades at Monza have catapulted the Dutchman into title contention Tsunoda has barely improved. Verstappen will go into the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend just 12 points off title leader Lando Norris.

Hadjar is stepping into one of the hardest seats in F1 to partner Verstappen, as the revolving door of recent drivers has demonstrated. Since Daniel Ricciardo left in 2018 they have used Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Pérez, Lawson and Tsunoda. None have come even close to matching him. The team is built around the four-time world champion and even the difficulties with the car this season are considered to have been the result of pursuing a design direction specifically tailored to Verstappen which made it hard to drive.

British driver Arvid Lindblad has been with the Red Bull development programme since 2021. Photograph: James Sutton/Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited/Getty Images

The pressure of lining up alongside Verstappen is also immense but Red Bull badly need a second driver who can deliver decent points. Verstappen alone has not been sufficient – they were beaten to the constructors’ championship last season and this year by McLaren and are now third behind Mercedes in the standings.

New regulations in 2026 will introduce new cars and new engines with Red Bull producing their own engines for the first time, and team principal Laurent Mekies was confident Hadjar would be able to step up.

“We believe Isack can thrive alongside Max and produce the magic on track,” he said. “2026 will be a huge challenge for the team and for Red Bull Ford Powertrains, these are exciting times and I am looking forward to seeing what we can do together.”

Lindblad, from Virginia Water in Surrey, with Swedish and Indian parents, is considered a promising talent and has been with the Red Bull development programme since 2021. He began racing in karts when he was five and was fourth in the F3 championship in 2024. He won the Formula Regional Oceania championship this year and is now sixth in the F2 championship which will come to a conclusion this weekend in Abu Dhabi. This year he has run two F1 practice sessions for Red Bull at Silverstone and at Mexico, where he was sixth fastest.

“Since I started this journey at five years old, it was always my goal to be in Formula One so it’s a proud moment to take this step,” he said. “2026 will be a big challenge and I know there’s a lot to learn but I’m ready to work closely with the team and rise to it. I can’t wait to get started, it’s going to be an exciting year.”

This article was amended on 2 December 2025. An earlier version said Verstappen will go into the final grand prix of the season 10 points behind the F1 championship leader Lando Norris. Verstappen will in fact enter the finale 12 points behind.