Yesterday at 07:25
Red Bull has been cautioned against promoting Isack Hadjar too
soon, with Johnny Herbert highlighting how it has gone "terribly
wrong" for the team in the past. Instead, the three-time grand prix
winner wants to see the Milton Keynes-based squad afford Yuki
Tsunoda more time alongside Max Verstappen. The Japanese driver was
drafted in to replace Liam Lawson — in a straight swap — two rounds
into the current F1 season, just before his home race at Suzuka.
However, the 25-year-old, whilst an upgrade on the New Zealander,
has fallen far short of the expected level of performance at the
six-time constructors' champions. In fact, it is hard to argue that
the pair have not been a considerable downgrade on Sergio Perez,
who was relieved of his duties over the winter due to poor results
last year Besides a sixth-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand
Prix, Tsunoda has struggled to score points in the RB21. At the
following round, in Singapore, he could only cross the line in P12.
Reflecting on his torrid campaign, Herbert told bettinglounge.co.uk
: "It still hasn't quite clicked for Yuki, whatever you say. "Was
it close to [clicking in] Singapore? Yes. Was that just the track?
Probably yes. But it's still not happened in the way that all of us
would think, 'he's actually raised a bar'. "That hasn't really
happened. It's better, but it hasn't created enough because
nobody's talking about him." It is widely anticipated that Racing
Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar will be brought into the top team for
2026, despite his relative inexperience. Although he will have over
double the number of grands prix under his belt than Alex Albon
(12) and Liam Lawson (11) did before they were parachuted into the
team, Herbert is worried Red Bull is repeating previous mistakes.
"The guy people are talking about is Hadjar," the 61-year-old said.
"There's still a lot of talk about what he's achieved with Racing
Bulls. And there's a potential, obviously, for that move to Red
Bull to replace Tsunoda. "I'd hope they'd give him another year,
because every time they drag someone in who probably hasn't quite
had enough experience into the big team, it always goes terribly
wrong." Hadjar needs time to get 'mentally prepared' for Red Bull
Instead, Herbert, who raced in F1 from 1989 to 2000, wants to see
Red Bull give Hadjar "more time to blossom" before being put into
the "pressure cooker" of the top team. "So, I think they need to
rethink their strategy to give Hadjar a little bit more time to
blossom and develop and get himself mentally prepared," he argued.
When you're in a Racing Bulls, I would imagine it's the same as
some of the smaller teams; it's a very different environment.
"Expectations are completely different. They're ramped up a
thousand percent when you get into a big team. "Hadjar is growing
so well in his first season. He told Alonso not to be grumpy in
Singapore! "He's got respect inside the team, and also with
[Helmut] Marko and Red Bull. He's done all the right things, but he
still has time before he is put into that pressure cooker."
