Isack Hadjar takes the contract in his stride: “If you’re good, you stay”

These are special days for Red Bull Racing driver Isack Hadjar. Just under an hour and a half after this article is published – at 10.30 am Central European Time – Hadjar will get back into a Formula 1 car for the first time in almost two months. Having recovered from a wrist injury, the Frenchman is fit again and can finally get back to racing (well, today it’s free practice at the Baku City Circuit to start with, followed by the Grand Prix on Saturday).

Ahead of this special comeback weekend, it was also officially announced that Isack Hadjar has extended his contract with Red Bull Racing and will continue to drive for the Austrian team alongside Max Verstappen in 2027. Unsurprisingly, Hadjar was naturally bombarded with questions from journalists about his new contract at the media day ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But the Frenchman remained completely cool. The contract – almost a side issue. The main thing, it seemed, was that he could finally get back into his beloved cockpit. He said the time away from racing had been tough for him.

Hadjar just wants to deliver on the track

How did the contract negotiations go? Hadjar said with great composure at the press conference ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: “I didn’t even speak to them about it. My people sorted that out.” Meaning his management team. The F1 driver: “I deliver on the track. It was very simple.” A pragmatic division of labour in the Hadjar household, then.

It does indeed seem to have been an uncomplicated set of negotiations. Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies had also explained that Hadjar had made the decision easy for them with his performance. Alternatives were never really on the table for either side.

Contract length? Who cares!

But then I probed further about the contract length, which isn’t specified in detail in the official announcement. Only the driver line-up for 2027 was announced. So does that mean it’s a one-year contract? Hadjar replied, super cool and, as usual, a little taciturn: “To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t care. If you’re good, you stay. That’s how it is.” He’s probably right…

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