Red Bull Content Pool

Can 'Hadjar promotion' hand Red Bull interesting dilemma amid Verstappen's goal?

08:06, 05 Sep

Updated: 08:53, 05 Sep

byKada Sarkozi

Juan Pablo Montoya sees an interesting dilemma for Red Bull Racing, should Isack Hadjar be promoted to the Austrian team.

The French driver scored his first podium in Formula 1, finishing in third place in Zandvoort.

The Racing Bulls rookie spent most of the Dutch Grand Prix in P4, and gained a position after Lando Norris' DNF.

During the media day in Monza, Hadjar declared his intention to compete for Red Bull Racing the following season.

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya also believes that, should Hadjar be promoted, it would present the team with an interesting decision over the 2026 season.

"I think he's going to end up with getting that seat more than anything else," the Colombian began on F1 TV's Weekend Warm-Up.

"How is Red Bull going to approach it? Are they going to approach it like they've done every year? Or with the new regulations, new car, they're going to go, 'okay, we're going to build this a little bit different.'"

Max Verstappen has confirmed he will stay with the team for the 2026 season after rumours about a switch to Mercedes, and he was also clear about wanting to drive for a team that can fight for victories when asked about the 'Ferrari dream.'

"If the car doesn't perform next year, you might end up the year without, Max might be going somewhere else after that.

"And you want to be able to build that next guy, and if Hadjar is the next guy, you need to build a good support team for that," he explained.

"I mean, the baseline probably is going to [be neutral], but once Max drives it and he goes, 'I don't like this, it needs to go this way,' that's where the team is going to have to make a decision. Do we just go on Max way again or do we go generic?"

'Perez than disappeared'

According to Montoya, Sergio Perez also started on the front foot with a neutral car, but once changes were made, the Mexican disappeared.

'Checo', who is set to return in 2026 with Cadillac, was replaced by the Austrians at the end of the previous year.

"Checo was beating Max at the beginning of the year and he looked really good.

"Then Max said I don't like the car. As soon as they change the car to Max and get Max more comfortable Checo was never seen again. That's the hard reality," he concluded.