Hot Take: Isack Hadjar is Breaking the Red Bull Curse
This may or may not be considered a hot take, but since it’s so early in the season, I will just come out and say it: Isack Hadjar has officially ended the Red Bull curse. Yes, we’ve only had two race weekends, yes he did DNF the first race, but I still believe that the Frenchman has and will continue to beat the Red Bull second seat odds - let me explain.
Isack’s F2 career was impressive, as he was the championship runner-up in 2024, scoring 192 points overall. (The only driver he lost to was Gabriel Bortoleto, who is also on his second season in Formula 1 this year.) After his second F2 season, Isack was promoted to drive for the Red Bull sister team, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team. During his rookie F1 season, Isack achieved his maiden podium during the Dutch Grand Prix, finished 12th in the drivers’ standings, and scored a total of 51 points. Overall, Isack was consistently praised throughout the 2025 season, and he shows even greater promise this year with Red Bull Racing.
The Red Bull curse on the second seat is one of the more notorious Formula 1 curses, and it has also been running for quite a long time. It started with Daniel Ricciardo’s departure in 2018 and most recently ended with Yuki Tsunoda being dropped after the 2025 season. Isack is the seventh driver to be Max Verstappen’s junior teammate, and so far it seems like he may have the guts and talent to prove himself more than the others did.
Isack standing on the podium in Zandvoort - well deserved! Photo courtesy of F1.
So far, it’s looking like that curse may be broken! This past weekend in Melbourne, Isack became the first driver since Max Verstappen in 2016 to reach Q3 in qualifying on his Red Bull debut. The Red Bull team confirmed that Isack Hadjar retired from the first race of the season due to a power unit failure, but it seems like this is an issue that may be fixable. In China, Isack qualified 9th on the grid, again achieving a Q3 session. He then finished the race in P9, claiming 2 points for his new team. Sure, this isn’t a race win or a podium, but already he has generally performed better than his predecessors. As the driver’s knowledge of the cars and their features grows, I believe that Isack will score more points and increase his chances of a podium (or a few).
Do you think Isack Hadjar will be able to handle the heat? This is just the first of many hot takes for the year, so as always, thank you so much for reading.
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Lights out and away we go,
Lucy xx
