Red Bull keeps Hadjar for 2027, and he says he doesn’t care how long the deal runs
The extension was announced on the morning of his comeback from a wrist fracture
Isack Hadjar will be Max Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull again in 2027. The team announced the extension on Wednesday morning in Baku, the day Hadjar returned to the paddock after three races out with a wrist fracture. How long the new deal runs, Red Bull did not say, and Hadjar does not seem to know either.
“I actually don’t know. I don’t care. Yeah, but, you know, if you’re good, you stay, and that’s it,” he said in the FIA press conference when he was asked whether it is a multi-year contract.
Mekies calls it an easy decision
“We’re very excited to continue our journey with Isack. Since joining us at the start of the year, he has been superb on and off track, especially considering this is only his second Formula 1 season, which made extending his contract an easy decision,” team principal Laurent Mekies said in Red Bull’s statement.
He tied the timing directly to the injury: “The period since his injury has been a difficult one for Isack, but this extension is a testament to how much we believe in him and we can’t wait to see him back out on track.”
Hadjar let his people do the talking
Hadjar played the negotiations down. “Yeah, I didn’t even talk about it. You know, I let my people do the talking for me,” he said. In the team statement he was warmer: “From the moment I signed, I set out to dedicate myself to the Team, and with the support of Laurent and everyone in Milton Keynes, I’ve been able to justify the faith they’ve had in me.”
The numbers back that up. Hadjar has 71 points from the races he started this year, and his third place in Monaco survived a drawn-out appeals process over Pierre Gasly’s penalty before it was finally confirmed. His first Formula 1 podium came at Zandvoort in 2025, in his rookie season with Racing Bulls.
A small fracture, no surgery, and a simulator test
The fracture itself was small, the recovery slow. “I have a small fracture outside of the wrist and it’s just quite a long process. I didn’t need any surgery,” Hadjar explained. He passed a simulator test before Red Bull cleared him, and when asked whether the wrist is at full strength, he kept it short: “Yeah, it’s good enough to drive, so that’s all I need.”
“The last time I touched the steering wheel was in Budapest,” he added. Asked what MotoGP rider Marc Márquez had told him after the injury, Hadjar confirmed the two had spoken and gave the shortest answer of the day: “Not to race!”
Liam Lawson drove the second Red Bull at Zandvoort, Monza and the Madring and now returns to Racing Bulls, as we reported when Red Bull confirmed Hadjar’s return. Hadjar credited his stand-in: “Of course, the Red Bull is superior to the RB, but it’s good to hear from him about the weaknesses of our car, if there are any.”
The seat that kept changing hands
Stability in the second Red Bull is new. Sergio Pérez was dropped at the end of 2024 despite a contract extension, Liam Lawson lasted two rounds in 2025 before swapping places with Yuki Tsunoda, and Tsunoda finished that season a long way behind Verstappen. Hadjar was promoted from Racing Bulls for 2026 and is the first driver since Pérez to be kept on in that seat for another season.
Where we land
Announcing the deal on the morning of his comeback is a clear signal, and we think it is the right one. Red Bull took the pressure off before the car has turned a wheel, so a difficult first weekend back on a street circuit cannot become a referendum on his future.
The open question is length. A one-year deal would keep Red Bull’s options open for the driver market beyond 2027, and Hadjar’s shrug suggests he is relaxed about that. For now, his job is simpler: Isack Hadjar gets back in the car on Thursday, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix runs on Saturday. Our Baku schedule and start times has every session.
