The shadow of Max Verstappen and the challenge of being his teammate at Red Bull

Until the replacement of Christian Horner by Laurent Mekies as director, Red Bull had liquidated or denigrated its subsidiary (Racing Bulls) up to five drivers in the last ten years, all of them after being exposed by crossing their numbers with those of Max Verstappen. The energetic team competes with two cars because they cannot do it alone with the Dutchman's. But that does not mean that the weight of the entire project and the decisions are essentially made with it in mind.

No one better than Checo Pérez to summarize the philosophy of the red buffalo team, which hired him in 2021 and pulled him so that Verstappen was crowned champion for the first time, and which four years later left him without a wheel despite having announced his renewal. "Just being Max's teammate is difficult; being at Red Bull is the worst job one can have in Formula 1, by far," the Mexican assumed, a few months ago, in a podcast in which he completely emptied himself. "This project is made for Max. The first time I sat down with Christian, he made it clear to me that, if they raced with two cars, it was because they were obliged to do so. But that, if it were up to them, they would only put Max's car on the track," adds the now Cadillac racer.

The one from Jalisco left in a balloon just like others did before, turned into broken toys due to the misunderstood demands of those who ran the company, with Horner and the outdated Helmut Marko at the wheel. Now neither of them are there and it is Mekies who runs the show in Milton Keynes. No one appreciates this relief more than Isack Hadjar, current garage neighbor of 'Mad Max' and one of the names of the grand prix that was held in Baku last Sunday, where the Frenchman scored his second podium of the season despite having to get on a moving train: he reappeared in Azerbaijan after having missed the three previous races, as a result of an injury to his wrist while practicing boxing last summer.

Hadjar faces the future with vigor while looking askance at the past, aware of the complexity of the role he plays in an organization that always swings towards the other side of the workshop. His mission is to try to be as close as possible to Verstappen, something much easier said than done, and that is why the Parisian's third position in Baku has so much merit. On one of the trickiest circuits on the calendar, he managed to place his car fourth on the grid, ahead of Verstappen (eighth), and to cross the finish line just behind his leader, whom he escorted for most of the race without actually throwing the car at him, despite lapping faster than him at various times.

"I can go two or three tenths faster, but I'm fine here. If I overtake him we'll lose time," Hadjar said, over the radio, on lap 17, when he was riding close to the rear of Verstappen, who was suffering from the state of his car's tires. “What Isack did was exceptional,” Mekies complimented him. "On the weekend of his return he raised the bar again. In the first part of the course, every time he went out on the track he contributed something new, and he continues to do so. This time he ran with great intelligence alongside Max, and it led us to be able to achieve the best possible result," says the executive, who that same week certified the Frenchman's renewal.