Red Bull's Isack Hadjar is not quite ready to call time on his 2026 campaign. Far from it, in fact.
The 22-year-old Frenchman admits he feels “sad” that the season is already approaching its conclusion, convinced he still has plenty more to give after a year in which his progress has gathered considerable momentum.
He has enjoyed an impressive debut season with Red Bull, collecting three podium finishes while establishing himself as a valuable partner to Max Verstappen.
Yet, looking back at the calendar, Hadjar feels he has spent an unusually large part of the year waiting to get back behind the wheel.
The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix disrupted the early campaign, while a wrist injury sustained during the summer break subsequently forced him to miss three races.
That meant an extended spell away from competition, leaving Hadjar with the feeling that his season has passed remarkably quickly.
Asked whether the injury interruption had affected his momentum, he was quick to dismiss the suggestion.
"No, because I got very lucky with the timing because the three races I skipped, I remember, were a bit tricky," Hadjar said in Brazil.
"I definitely came back when the car made the step. At the same time, I feel like this year, for some reason, I feel like I haven't driven much.
"Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were cancelled, and then I had a two-month break during the summer, and now I feel like I have a lot left in the tank, and considering what's happening in the coming races and we don't know how many more races we are going to have, I'm a bit sad that we're already at the end.
"I feel like I can still go a long way this year."
Red Bull's progress has left Hadjar hungry for more
There is certainly a good reason for Hadjar to feel that his best work may still lie ahead.
Since returning in Baku, he has added podiums in Azerbaijan and Sao Paulo to his earlier Monaco achievement, while Red Bull has transformed the RB22 into a race-winning machine.
The contrast with the team's early-season struggles has been striking, and Hadjar is particularly impressed by the speed with which his team have turned things around.
"I'm proud of the guys for the big step [we made]," he said.
"In Melbourne we were second off the pace; at round three [in Japan], we were a second off. Now the car is winning races and fighting for podiums, so I can't be more proud of that.
"The way we developed the car, the ability of the team to progress quickly [makes me] very hopeful for next year."
Mekies: 'Brazil the best race he has done with is us'
That optimism is shared by team boss Laurent Mekies, who believes Hadjar's performances have reached another level as the season has progressed.
Asked whether his driver was approaching the point where he could challenge for outright victories under the right circumstances, Mekies was emphatic in his assessment.
"I think ultimately if you ask me right now, I think it’s the best race he has done with us," Mekies told reporters following the race.
"In terms of pure pace, and that’s what we look at, you know, pure pace on the dry, on the inters, super difficult conditions, in how clever he has been racing."
Mekies also highlighted the consistency of Hadjar's development as a major factor behind the team's decision to retain him for 2027.
"He has done a lot of very strong racing this year as you know... but I think he has raised the bar another time, so you know that’s what we want to keep seeing," he explained.
“You know that’s what we said we were most impressed by when we took the decisions to confirm him for '27 is the way he has been keeping raising the bar, and we were simply hoping to [provide] the environment for him to keep doing that."
Read also: Verstappen delivers blunt verdict on Ferrari's driver pairingFor Hadjar, that endorsement is another reason to look forward rather than back. His first season at Red Bull has already delivered podiums, valuable experience and a growing reputation.
But with the RB22 finally hitting its stride, the Frenchman clearly feels there is unfinished business in 2026. And if his team boss is right, there could be considerably more to come next year.
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