Max Verstappen kills off another Red Bull team-mate as ‘second driver curse’ strikes again

 The announcement that Isack Hadjar is to be promoted to the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen for 2026 is confirmation of one of Formula One’s worst-kept secrets. The French-Algerian had been in pole position for months thanks to an impressive rookie year at sister team Racing Bulls.

It will be fascinating to see how he gets on. Hadjar is an engaging character with an interesting back story (involving quantum physics of all things – the 21-year-old is named after Sir Isaac Newton).

But his promotion confirms the demise of Yuki Tsunoda after less than one full season at Red Bull. The diminutive Japanese does not even get the consolation prize of a return to Racing Bulls, with British-Swedish teenager Arvid Lindblad stepping up from Formula Two next year to join Liam Lawson. Tsunoda will remain with the team as a test and reserve driver for 2026.

Incredibly, that makes it six team-mates now who have been chewed up and spat out by Verstappen since the Dutchman was promoted to the full Red Bull team in 2016.

Some have fared better than others. Daniel Ricciardo provided stiff competition for much of their first two seasons together. Sergio Pérez, too, had spells when he was competitive, usually at the start of the year before running out of steam. Others were unmitigated disasters. Pierre Gasly had a horrible half-season in 2019, and Alex Albon lost confidence after a bright start, lasting 18 months. That was an eternity compared with Lawson, who managed just two races at the start of this season before the team sent for Tsunoda.

Ultimately, all of them fell victim to what has become known as the “Red Bull second seat curse”.

Why is it so hard to go up against Verstappen?

Well first of all, and most obviously, because he is blindingly quick. Groomed for F1 by his father, ex-F1 driver Jos, Verstappen is hard-nosed, brave (Christian Horner used to note how he would invariably set the fastest times on new tracks straight out of the traps, to make a point) and incredibly consistent, all hallmarks of greatness.

The other reason, of course, is because of Red Bull’s unapologetic one-driver approach, which has only become more pronounced the longer Verstappen has been at the team and the more successful he has become. Of course, Red Bull’s engineers listen more to his feedback, of course they develop the car to suit his strengths, and so on.

Albon was fascinating on this subject on The High Performance Podcast in 2023 when he spoke about Verstappen’s “unique” driving style. “I like a car that has a good front-end, so quite sharp, quite direct,” Albon said. “Max does too, but his level of sharp and direct is a whole different level – it’s eye-wateringly sharp.

“What ended up happening was, especially during my year, you start off being a little bit behind, but not by much, and then as the season goes on, Max wants this front-end in the car, he wants his car to be sharper, sharper.

“As it goes sharper and sharper, he goes quicker and quicker, and for you to catch up you have to start taking a little bit more risk. You might be a couple of tenths behind one session, just try a little bit more, ‘OK, I’ve gone off, I’ve had a crash’, and you’ve got to restart. It just starts to snowball.”

Politics outside of the cockpit

There were all sorts of reasons why Horner was fired in July, but there is no doubt that the fear of losing Verstappen played a part, focusing Austrian minds. Horner’s relations with Jos Verstappen, in particular, with Helmut Marko (although not so much with Verstappen himself, funnily enough), had nosedived.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown wrote in his recent book Seven Tenths of a Second that Red Bull became “subservient” to Verstappen during the last days of Horner. “Everyone seems to be subservient to him,” Brown wrote. “Everyone seems to be afraid of him. The car is tailored to Max, to a point where it seems difficult for anyone else to drive it effectively.

“Red Bull tend not to choose a second driver who will pose any threat to Max, otherwise Carlos Sainz would have been an obvious choice [for 2025].”

Does Hadjar have a prayer?

Hadjar has impressed in his first season in F1, despite his inauspicious start in Melbourne when he slid off on the formation lap and ended up getting a cuddle from Anthony Hamilton. In total, he has had 10 top-10 finishes, plus one podium in Zandvoort, and has outscored the more experienced Lawson 51-38 in points.

But it is another thing altogether going up against Verstappen, for all the aforementioned reasons.

Telegraph Sport spoke to Hadjar in Singapore and asked whether there was any part of him that worried that 2026 might come too soon in terms of being promoted alongside Verstappen?

“I mean, yes,” Hadjar admitted. “But at the same time, you don’t want to [hide]… Sure it would be a bit scary, but I look for that. It’s what I always wanted to do as a kid. It was never to just drive F1 cars, it’s to compete against the best in the world. It’s what I’m here for. What’s the best ever like? Because he [Verstappen] is the benchmark.

“I also feel like, timing-wise, it’s interesting that there are new regulations coming next season. Everyone starts from zero again. So if it happens it could also be very good. But honestly, either way, I’m still young. I believe whatever God decides is the right thing.”

Hadjar’s best chance of surviving might actually be if Red Bull have a poor car next year, and Verstappen decides to move teams.

…and who is Arvid Lindblad?

Tipped for a Racing Bulls seat in 2026 since before Horner was fired, Lindblad was granted special dispensation by the FIA for a super licence back in June, two months shy of his 18th birthday. He has since made two appearances in F1 practice sessions for Red Bull at the British and Mexican grands prix.

Part of the Red Bull junior driver programme since 2022, Lindblad currently races in F2 for Campos Racing and goes into this weekend’s F2 finale sixth in the standings.

His promotion will make it five British drivers on the F1 grid next year, alongside Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, George Russell and Ollie Bearman (Alex Albon is half-British but races under a Thai flag). On which subject, Lindblad might not sound like a very British name – his father, Stefan, is Swedish, while his mother, Anita, is of Indian heritage – but Lindblad was born in Virginia Water in Surrey, educated at RGS Guildford, and races under a British flag.

Lindblad explained once that it would feel “weird” to represent any other country, as he has lived in Britain all his life.