Permane on Hadjar's "impressive" rookie season and Red Bull links

Racing Bulls Team Principal, Alan Permane, has shared insight into Isack Hadjar's thoroughly impressive rookie season in Formula One, which has left many to speculate if the Frenchman will be promoted to race alongside four-time champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season.

Hadjar has impressed many people this season after scoring a maiden podium at the Dutch Grand Prix after coming back from the summer break back in August. The rookie successfully managed to defend from a charging George Russell in that race, and benefitted from the retirement of Lando Norris to take an impressive first podium, finishing behind reigning champion Verstappen.

Hadjar has also impressed many right from the outset with his overall pace inside the Racing Bulls car, as the rookie had never been knocked out of Q1 until the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which was an incredibly tight session with just thousandths of seconds between drivers.

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Permane said: "Isack is very fast and adapts quickly. I'll give you a recent example: he'd never been to Singapore, so just before the start of the FP1 session, I told him to take his time to familiarise himself with the track. Yet, after a few laps, he was already up there. He assimilates information and converts it into performance, and this makes him a truly impressive rookie."

Isack Hadjar - Photo: Race Pictures

In Singapore, Hadjar managed to finish in 11th position despite having a significant engine issue, and also battled Fernando Alonso intensely, much to the dismay of the experienced Spaniard.

Permane on Hadjar's major strengths

Racing Bulls have managed to score 72 points so far in the Constructors' Championship, a major improvement on the 46 points that they scored just last season. Hadjar's efforts make up 39 points of the 72, with team-mate Liam Lawson scoring 30 points, and Yuki Tsunoda picking up a few points at the start of the season, before the Japanese driver would be promoted to Red Bull.

Permane added: "I have to be careful with my words, because it is not up to me to say whether he's ready or not. I can say that Isack is very fast, he's eager to grow, he's tenacious, and he's very mentally strong. I'll also add that the day he changes teams, he'll have maximum support."

This comes after Helmut Marko confirmed both Verstappen and Hadjar have contracts, but with which team and in which position remains open. GPblog understands that no decision has yet been made on who will fill the two remaining seats in Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls.