After missing three F1 races due to an injury sustained in training, Isack Hadjar bounced back in the best possible style with a superb third place in the Azerbaijan GP – having pushed his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen for much of the afternoon.
It was the strongest performance by the team’s second driver for three or four years, and was further proof that in Hadjar, Red Bull Racing has finally found someone who can fulfill the role of the most difficult job in F1 – sitting alongside Verstappen.
The team already knew that he’s the right man, which is why he’s just been confirmed for 2027, somewhat earlier than driver decisions are usually made in the Red Bull camp.
It was far from an easy weekend for Hadjar. He hadn’t raced since Budapest on July 26th, having sustained a wrist injury while undertaking boxing training during the summer break. He then had to watch substitute Liam Lawson drive his car in the Dutch, Italian and Spanish GPs.
Sensibly, it was agreed not to rush his return and risk aggravating the injury, and only after a successful simulator session in the factory did he get the green light.
The good news was that his return coincided with a package of aero upgrades for the sometimes tricky RB22. The bad news was that Baku, a street track with little margin for error, was probably one of the most difficult places to pick up after an absence. He had to get his eye in and build up his speed, and that paid off as he qualified a solid P4 on a day when Verstappen had an engine issue and could not better P8.
The four-time World Champion made a charging start and was ahead of Hadjar by lap 6, but the Frenchman stayed with him as they both pursued Oscar Piastri for second place.
Rather than race the Dutchman, Hadjar held station as they worked together. He only lost ground in the final part of the race after their alternate strategies saw Verstappen on the softer, slightly quicker tire chasing leader George Russell in the closing laps. Hadjar duly claimed P3, only 10 seconds behind.
“I must say I came back at the right time in terms of an injury point of view and, at the same time, in terms of what the car is capable of,” he said. “The way I left the car in Budapest, I was not really satisfied, and coming back after a couple of races, we definitely made a step. So, yeah, definitely happy about that. And in terms of the approach, I took it really slowly, the whole weekend, because it’s a demanding track to come back to. I don’t want to be in the wall. It’s a tough track to come back to. The approach was great. It brought me to that P3. So, yeah, I can’t really do much better than that.”
He admitted that it hadn’t been easy for him to sit on the sidelines: “I felt like I had like a whole winter break, which is not really what you want in the middle of the season. I definitely missed it – the adrenaline, those Q3 laps, the restart, and it’s good to be back fighting with the other drivers. It’s what I love to do. So hopefully I use a bit more my brain when I go boxing next time!”
He certainly impressed his team boss Laurent Mekies with his strong form.
“I think it was outstanding what Isack has produced this weekend,” said the Frenchman. “Really outstanding. At first, the most important thing is that he felt straight away good in the car, no pain. Every time that we met together in the last few weeks, we said we will wait for Isaac to come back at 100%, because that’s a priority. Well, that’s what happened. He was in the car. He didn’t have any pain. Nonetheless, even without pain, it’s not an easy track to go back to because of the no margin for error, and he has been building up his rhythms, session after session, very calmly, with a lot of positive energy.”
It’s also worth pointing out that the team played a part by confirming him for 2027, taking away any doubts that someone else in the Red Bull program might usurp him. That didn’t happen by chance.
“We always say that it’s our number one job to ensure that we put our people in the conditions to express their talents at best,” said Mekies when asked by Road & Track about that strategy. “And we say that for our engineers, for our mechanics, for our staff, and that applies equally to the drivers. And we felt it was the right move to put him in the best possible conditions to express his talents at the moment, where we knew the pressure will be high, where we knew some thoughts can cross your mind, and we wanted to reaffirm how much we were trusting and how much we were confident in his current and future progress with the team.”