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Isack Hadjar is “one of the men of the year”, according to Timo Glock, who believes the Frenchman has embraced the challenge of partnering Max Verstappen at Red Bull without fear.
Verstappen has, in part, his teammate to thank for his podium result at the Belgian Grand Prix after Hadjar’s tow put him on the front of the Spa-Francorchamps grid.
Timo Glock praises Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull impact alongside Max Verstappen
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Hadjar was announced as Verstappen teammate for the F1 2026 season, the four-time world champion’s third teammate since Sergio Perez’s left Red Bull 12 months prior.
Joining Red Bull after just one season with Racing Bulls, Hadjar said upon his confirmation: “It’s a fantastic thing, I can’t wait to work with the best and learn from Max.”
After several seasons of Verstappen leading Red Bull’s charge, Hadjar qualified third at the season-opening Australian GP where Verstappen crashed in Q1. The Frenchman’s race ended with an engine failure, but Hadjar had already signalled himself as someone who could, if not beat, pick up the pieces when Verstappen faltered.
He has since gone on to score seven times in 10 Grand Prix, became the first teammate to outqualify Verstappen on merit at the British Grand Prix, and ‘gifted’ his teammate P2 on the grid at Spa.
Facing a back-of-the-grid start in Belgium due to engine penalties, Hadjar’s tow gave Verstappen a 0.4s boost, elevating him from what would’ve been sixth on the grid to second.
While Verstappen turned that into a podium result, crossing the line in third place, Hadjar raced from 21st on the grid to sixth at the chequered flag.
He lost out on the fan voted ‘Driver of the Day’ to Charles Leclerc, who was second at Spa, but former F1 driver Glock reckons Hadjar deserves to be in the running for driver of the season.
“For me, he is one of the men of the year,” he told Sky Deutschland.
“If we look back, everyone is looking at Max Verstappen. And he stands there and says: ‘No, I’m up for the challenge and I’m going to do it’.
“He shows that more and more weekend after weekend.
“He is partly on par with Max Verstappen and the race pace was outstanding. Absolutely top weekend for him.”
Max Verstappen v Isack Hadjar: Red Bul F1 2026 scores
F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates
F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates
Hadjar put in an epic performance at Spa on Sunday, as he made two pit stops in two laps to swap his hard tyres for medium Pirellis and then back in to swap the mediums for a set of hard tyres.
Hadjar went on to complete what was, in effect, a one-stop race.
“I think it is his best race,” team principal Laurent Mekies told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media at Spa.
“It is the best race with us, no question. Honestly, it’s not only a spike, it has been just a little bit better every single race for speed. So he’s bringing some speed every time he’s driving.
“Today is another step, this weekend is another step, because he was very, very fast from FP1.
“And yes, we’ve put him on a slightly unusual strategy, which in the end with the timing of the VSC also offered him the possibility to beat Lando fundamentally. So it was good.
“He was very, very strong. His pace was top three pace, so [I’m] very happy with his progress.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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