Max Verstappen is looking forward to his collaboration with brand-new teammate Isack Hadjar. The French-Algerian driver is driving for Red Bull for the first time after his debut year at Racing Bulls. Hadjar faces a major challenge as Verstappen’s teammate, but the Dutch driver has some advice: ‘You have to keep telling yourself: ‘I can beat everyone’.’
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Isack Hadjar is Max Verstappen’s new teammate at Red Bull this season. The French-Algerian driver succeeds the likes of Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Pérez, and Yuki Tsunoda; drivers who all lost out to the Dutch world champion. Albon and Pérez previously expressed the expectation that Hadjar, partly due to the new regulations, will not suffer the same fate. Verstappen himself is now giving his brand-new teammate advice ahead of the season opener in Melbourne.
The multi-time world champion advises the young driver to start his time at Red Bull with confidence. “As a driver, you always have to believe you are the best,” Verstappen says in the Up to Speed podcast. “That should always be the approach. You have to tell yourself: ‘I can beat everyone’. When I started in Formula 1, I also thought: ‘If you give me the right car, I will win the championship’. That’s how I think. So I’m actually very satisfied with the approach I took in my first year. Staying a bit in the middle, fighting for points, but of course also making some stupid mistakes. I think that’s a good start.”
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‘Nice guy’
As a rookie, Hadjar also made several mistakes in his first year in Formula 1. For example, the driver crashed during the formation lap of his very first Grand Prix in Melbourne. Verstappen is happy with his new teammate for 2026. “He’s a really nice guy,” says the world champion. “Of course, when you’re just starting your second year, you’re in a completely different state of mind. I’m starting my twelfth season, so I’m a bit more relaxed. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. I’ve known him for a long time, of course, from the junior team and later from his Formula 1 career. So that’s not a problem at all.”
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View the 2026 F1 calendar here
