Isack Hadjar has caught the eye in an impressive start to life as a Formula 1 driver, but the last thing he should do is step up to a Red Bull seat.

That is the opinion expressed by 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg, who urged the Frenchman to “decline” any offer of a Red Bull promotion which may come his way with Yuki Tsunoda the latest Red Bull racer to struggle alongside reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen.

Isack Hadjar to Red Bull: Should he say no?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

A graduate of the Red Bull Junior Team, Hadjar stepped up from Formula 2 to Racing Bulls for F1 2025 and has turned heads in the paddock, scoring 21 points across the opening nine rounds which places him ninth in the Drivers’ Championship.

And one figure within Red Bull who has been left very impressed is Red Bull senior advisor and drive programme boss Helmut Marko.

“Hadjar is the big surprise,” he declared to the media, including PlanetF1.com.

“Everywhere we come, immediately he’s on speed and everywhere he provides a super performance.

“We knew he’s fast, but that he is so consistent, and that he is driving relatively easy, it’s also a surprise for us.”

Such performances have already sparked the rumour mill into life over a potential Red Bull promotion for Hadjar, with Tsunoda struggling to excel in the RB21 after stepping up from Racing Bulls to Red Bull in a straight swap with Liam Lawson.

But, if that call comes, Rosberg tells Hadjar he must say no.

“If I was Hajar now, if ever the team starts to mention [a promotion], I would literally decline,” Rosberg told Sky F1.

“Like, decline as hard as you possibly can.

“Because he’s doing such a great job there with the RBs, he’s in a great position, just flat decline and say, ‘No way.’ You need to do that, like decline.”

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Tsunoda has scored just seven points since joining Red Bull from the third round of the season in Japan – his home race – as he follows Lawson, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly in struggling to extract a comparable level of performance to Verstappen from the Red Bull machinery.

And Rosberg was asked why Red Bull cannot engineer Tsunoda’s car to be something he likes.

“I really struggle to understand that myself,” Rosberg responded.

“Everything just points to Max Verstappen being so special. And that’s the only thing you can say about that, because all these guys are great drivers. It looks like he’s just on another level to everybody else.”

Verstappen sits P3 in the current Drivers’ Championship standings as he chases a fifth straight crown, the gap to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in top spot 49 points.

But, with the Dutchman having hit 11 Super Licence penalty points following the Spanish Grand Prix, the potential is there for Hadjar to soon make his Red Bull debut with Verstappen just one point away from a race ban.

PlanetF1.com understands that at this point, Hadjar and Lawson have an equal opportunity of getting a call-up to the senior team in such a scenario, though it is understood to be one Red Bull is not overly concerned by.

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