- Isack Hadjar will remain Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate for the 2027 Formula 1 season, with his contract extension confirmed ahead of his return from a wrist injury in Azerbaijan.
- Hadjar has impressed during his first season with Red Bull, recording seven consecutive top-six finishes and a reinstated Monaco podium while maintaining an estimated average qualifying deficit of just 0.283 seconds to Verstappen.
- Liam Lawson is now the only Red Bull-contracted driver without a confirmed seat for 2027, with F2 championship leader Nikola Tsolov potentially in contention for a Racing Bulls drive.
Isack Hadjar will celebrate his return from injury at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the news that he will continue to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull for the 2027 season.
The 21-year-old had missed the past three rounds due to a wrist injury sustained during F1’s summer break, with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson deputising alongside Verstappen.
However, fit and ready to return for a gruelling race on the streets of Baku, Hadjar will see out his maiden Red Bull season with the added security of his future being tied to the Milton Keynes outfit.
“I am really excited to continue with Oracle Red Bull Racing,” said Hadjar. “I came to this team eight months ago and immediately understood the scale and ambition of this organisation.
“There are so many talented people at the factory, and you’re aware of the privilege of driving for such an incredible team alongside a four-time World Champion like Max [Verstappen].
“From the moment I signed, I set out to dedicate myself to the team, and with the support of Laurent [Mekies] and everyone in Milton Keynes, I’ve been able to justify the faith they’ve had in me.
“I’m constantly looking to listen, learn and push myself further every single day, which only makes me more excited about what lies ahead.”
Team Principal Laurent Mekies added: “We’re very excited to continue our journey with Isack. Since joining us at the start of the year, he has been superb on and off track, especially considering this is only his second Formula 1 season, which made extending his contract an easy decision.
“From the very beginning, Isack immersed himself in the team, spending every minute at the factory with his engineers to develop the car, always eager to learn and improve.
“You could see from that first weekend in Melbourne that he handled the step up with remarkable composure and had earned his place in this seat.
“The period since his injury has been a difficult one for Isack, but this extension is a testament to how much we believe in him and we can’t wait to see him back out on track.
“We still have a lot we want to achieve this season, but it’s a great feeling to know that the drivers, engineers and everyone back at the factory are all heading in the same direction, committed and together.”
Frenchman Hadjar enjoyed a standout rookie season with Racing Bulls in 2025, culminating in a podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix. He also outperformed Lawson, who returned to the sister Red Bull team from Japan onwards, as well as Yuki Tsunoda, whom Hadjar replaced at the championship-winning team this year.
Qualifying third on his Red Bull debut in Melbourne earlier this year also saw Hadjar make an immediate impression in what had previously been a poisoned chalice of a second seat alongside Verstappen.
Seven straight top-six finishes, as well as a reinstated podium at the jewel-in-the-crown Monaco Grand Prix, have seen Hadjar succeed where his predecessors could not.
Crucially, the qualifying gap to Verstappen has been smaller than that of Tsunoda, Lawson and Sergio Perez before him. Hadjar has trailed the four-time world champion by an estimated 0.283 seconds on average, compared with the 0.5-to-one-second deficit his predecessors were often mired in.
While the RB22 as a package has been far off the benchmark in 2026 compared with Red Bull’s machinery during the previous ground-effect era of regulations, Verstappen is still operating at a high level despite his dissatisfaction with the style of racing F1 has adopted.
Twenty-four-year-old Lawson is now the only Red Bull-contracted driver without his 2027 seat secured. F2 championship leader and Red Bull junior driver Nikola Tsolov appears to have momentum behind him; however, the New Zealander has done little wrong to suggest he does not warrant another year at Racing Bulls.
