Hadjar: gap to Verstappen 'right'

Isack Hadjar is three races into his first full Red Bull Racing season, and he is saying the gap to Max Verstappen looks about like he expected, which is a striking thing to hear when the teammate on the other side of the garage is a four-time world champion. In 2026, Hadjar has already beaten Verstappen in qualifying in Melbourne and Suzuka, even with Verstappen still carrying the bigger reputation. (pitdebrief.com) That matters because qualifying is the purest one-lap test in Formula One: same car family, same track, same session clock, and no pit-stop strategy to hide behind. In Australia on March 7, Hadjar put his Red Bull third on the grid while Verstappen crashed out in the first part of qualifying. (formula1.com, formula1.com) Suzuka gave the same basic picture in a cleaner head-to-head. On March 28, Hadjar qualified eighth for the Japanese Grand Prix while Verstappen was knocked out in the second part of qualifying and started 13th after another difficult session with the Red Bull car. (formula1.com, formula1.com) The catch is that Hadjar has not turned those Saturdays into clean Sundays yet. Pit Debrief reports that he retired from the season opener in Australia and then dropped four places in Japan, falling out of the points after starting inside the top 10. (pitdebrief.com) That split between qualifying pace and race result is the whole story right now. Before the Japanese Grand Prix, Hadjar said Red Bull’s immediate target was not just points but understanding how to make the car faster, which tells you the team still sees the car itself as part of the problem, not just the drivers. (formula1.com) Verstappen has been saying much the same thing from the other side of the garage. After his Q2 exit at Suzuka, he described the car as “again very difficult,” which fits a broader pattern of Red Bull struggling to get both cars into the fight at the front in early 2026. (formula1.com, pitdebrief.com) The standings show how expensive those problems have been. Formula One’s official 2026 drivers’ table has Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli on 72 points and George Russell on 63 after the opening rounds, while Red Bull Racing has fallen behind the top teams in the constructors’ fight. (formula1.com, calendarf1.com) So Hadjar’s quote is less chest-thumping than it sounds. A rookie saying the gap to Verstappen is “right” is really a way of saying he expected to be close enough to learn, close enough to contribute, and not so far away that Red Bull would treat him like a passenger. (pitdebrief.com) The next test is whether those one-lap flashes turn into points on Sunday. If Hadjar keeps qualifying ahead of Verstappen but keeps sliding backward in races, Red Bull has learned it has a fast young driver; if he starts finishing those weekends, the team has learned something much bigger. (pitdebrief.com, formula1.com)