Buxton: Hadjar Is Verstappen's Most Competitive Team-Mate Since Ricciardo

Will Buxton believes Isack Hadjar is Max Verstappen's most competitive Red Bull team-mate since Daniel Ricciardo, highlighting the challenge of managing a suddenly crowded driver pipeline across just four available seats.

Why it matters:

Red Bull's junior programme is producing elite talent faster than it can place them. With only two seats at Red Bull Racing and two at Racing Bulls, the pressure to evaluate and promote drivers is intensifying as multiple prospects simultaneously prove their worth.

The details:

• Hadjar's pace: On the Up To Speed podcast, Buxton argued Hadjar is currently Verstappen's closest match since Ricciardo in raw competitiveness.
• A stacked roster: The presenter noted a surplus of talent, praising Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson alongside Hadjar and leaving few obvious candidates to drop.
• Tsolov's rise: The conversation shifted to F2 standout Nikola Tsolov, who recently secured three consecutive victories, including a rare Silverstone double where he won both the sprint and feature races despite the reverse-grid format.
• Coulthard's view: David Coulthard added that Red Bull's deep motorsport investment means budget constraints are unlikely to force the team to shed promising talent.

The big picture:

Red Bull's embarrassment of riches presents a strategic dilemma. While most teams scramble to find one future star, Milton Keynes must decide whether to loan drivers elsewhere or expand affiliations to avoid stalling careers. With Verstappen's long-term future still subject to paddock speculation, shaping the next generation is becoming an increasingly complex puzzle.