Red Bull's ruthlessness is coming back to bite as junior team's executive pleads against driver's promotion
Driving alongside Max Verstappen in Formula 1 is quickly becoming a death sentence.
Not because the Dutchman's aggressive racecraft, but because of the bizarre dynamic that has turned into a curse at Red Bull Racing.
As we've seen over the past few years, once someone is tapped on the shoulder and asked to step into the shadow of one of the modern day greats, their career takes a handbreak turn towards the portaloos.
Isack Hadjar is the latest to be thrust into the conversation to join Verstappen after Yuki Tsunoda's less-than-impressive run following his abrupt takeover of Liam Lawson earlier this year.
The 20-year-old Hadjar has more than turned heads in his debut season with Red Bull's junior outfit, Racing Bulls. He's shown composure beyond his years and snagged some handy points in the process, racing wheel-to-wheel with some of the sport's greats.
He's scored in more than half of his races since his nightmarish exit on debut in Australia, dragging the car to an impressive sixth in Monaco.
That effort even earned him praise from Red Bull executive Helmut Marko, who very recently humiliated the rookie on his debut by describing his tears in Australia as 'embarrassing'.
We got another glimpse into the inner workings of the Red Bull behemoth this week when Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer publicly begged the senior team to steer clear from promoting Hadjar.
'For heaven's sake, don't take this talent away from us too soon,' he said, per Swiss-German publication Blick
'He should get to know the whole business by the end of 2026.
'Until then, we'll just have to handcuff him!'
2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg also warned Hadjar to be wary of the curse.
'If I was Hadjar now, if ever the team starts to mention [a promotion], I would literally decline,' Rosberg said while commentating at last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
'Decline as hard as you possibly can.
'Because he's doing such a great job there with the [Racing Bulls], he's in a great position. Just flat decline and say: 'No way.'
'You need to do that. Decline.'
Red Bull's ruthlessness is biting back
Red Bull's impatience has been put on full display this year and it has soured the waters with many fans of the sport. Hailed with pre-season fanfare and a flashy Red Bull promo blitz, Lawson was dropped after just two races. He failed to come close to Max's times in the first two weekends and wasn't given a sniff of confidence to improve.
Tsunoda had long been pushed by Honda and Red Bull as a future star. But in seven races, he has scored just seven points, crashed out early, and been left floundering in Q1 far too often for Red Bull's liking.
Before them came Sergio 'Checo' Perez, the Mexican veteran who was eviscerated online for failing to match Verstappen's alien pace.
And yet, Checo came second in the championship in 2023 — a result that now looks positively herculean when compared to his short-lived successors.
He held back Charles Leclerc in critical team moments, helped secure Red Bull's Constructors' dominance, and played team chess with discipline.
Perez wasn't underperforming so much as he was surviving and he got the raw end of Red Bull's ruthlessness, which ended up leaving him without a seat for 2024.
Verstappen tipped to drop bombshell
Meanwhile, Verstappen has been sensationally tipped to quit Red Bull at the end of the season by a former team mechanic.
He has been linked with an exit from the Red Bull garage, with a team transfer to the likes of Mercedes or Aston Martin.
But ex-Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas believes Verstappen could quit F1 entirely once he wins a fifth World Drivers Championship.
Nicholas believes Verstappen is still in the fight for the 2025 crown and will cut ties with the sport after going five-straight.
'I think Max is going to win the Drivers' this year, and then I think he's going to call it a day,' he said.
Despite his answer, the mechanic insisted he didn't 'know anything' extra about Verstappen's career plans.
'To not back Max is just like lunacy, I think. The guy is just really really good,' he said.
'Not in terms of just his technical skill and his talent, but I've watched Max grow into this guy that can do everything.
'He does everything well now.'
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