Red Bull has spent plenty of time searching for the missing piece of its second-car puzzle, but Laurent Mekies believes Isack Hadjar is finally helping solve one of the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s most enduring problems.
The Frenchman’s promotion from Racing Bulls to the senior team was always going to be a sizeable step, particularly given the revolving door that had occupied the seat alongside Max Verstappen.
Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda had all come and gone in a little over a year, leaving Red Bull with an increasingly obvious weakness: Verstappen could deliver at the sharp end, but his teammate was too often unable to provide the same level of support.
Hadjar, however, is beginning to change that picture.
The 21-year-old has not simply been thrown into the deep end and asked to survive. Instead, he has embraced the opportunity with an eagerness to learn, while steadily turning his growing experience into stronger performances.
For Mekies, that progress is particularly significant because improving the second car was one of Red Bull’s priorities when he took over as team principal.
Red Bull’s second car is finally delivering
Mekies admitted that the team knew it had work to do after taking stock of its situation, and Hadjar was very much part of that plan.
“On our shopping list, as Oracle Red Bull Racing, we had obviously the power unit, we had getting back to competitiveness as soon as possible, but we also had, ‘We need to sort out the second car’,” Mekies explained, speaking to RACER.
“We are conscious that we may not have done things perfectly in the past. And it was absolutely a high priority, making sure we don't miss the trick with Isack.”
©Red Bull
Yet while Red Bull deserves credit for creating the environment around its young driver, Mekies is quick to make clear where the lion’s share of the praise belongs.
“Don't get me wrong, the credit needs to go to Isack. He arrived in the UK a few days after he signed with us at the beginning of the year,” he said.
“He's coming to the factory every other week or every other day. If it's not the simulator, it's with his engineers.
“He has been taking an approach where he has his feet on the ground, his head's down, he just wants to learn every day from the team, from Max. And he's getting better every single time he takes the car out.
“That's what we see, a tiny bit better every single time he gets the car out. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't see it because of the weekend circumstances, but that's the reality of it.”
That steady development could prove enormously valuable for Red Bull. Rather than expecting Hadjar to suddenly transform into Verstappen’s equal, the team is seeing something potentially more important: a driver whose performance curve is moving consistently in the right direction.
Two cars, one stronger Red Bull
For Mekies, the benefits extend well beyond Hadjar’s individual results.
A competitive second Red Bull gives the team more options strategically, more information technically and, perhaps most importantly, a stronger sense that everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“It's fantastic news for the team. It is what we need," he said. “And it helps also in terms of team cohesion and getting everyone united together because we have two cars, and we can play with the two cars – as we've done in Spa, for example, in qualifying.
“But not only that, it helps when you have to share the set-up items, it helps when you have to share the tire test or whatever.
“So it's only the beginning. He knows there is a lot more to be unlocked and that's the exciting part. But for sure, the trajectory is the best one we have had on that second car for a long time.”
Read also: Hadjar details how he unlocked his consistency at Red BullThat final point may be the most encouraging of all for Red Bull.
Hadjar is still learning, and there will inevitably be weekends when his progress is harder to spot amid the usual chaos of Formula 1. But the important thing for Mekies is that the underlying trend remains unmistakable.
Red Bull no longer has to view its second car simply as Verstappen’s supporting act. With Hadjar steadily growing into the role, it is becoming another useful weapon in the team’s arsenal — and one that could make the entire operation stronger as the season unfolds.
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