Red Bull announces full 2026 driver line up
Yesterday, Red Bull announced who would be taking up the role of second driver to Max Verstappen in Red Bull, and who will race for their sister team, Visa CashApp RB (VCARB), but as they have decided to opt for a rookie, one driver has been left without a seat next season.
View this post on Instagram
Isack Hadjar was selected over his competition to race for Red Bull in the 2026 season, supporting Max Verstappen in a second driver role. The 2025 rookie has impressed people everywhere, overachieving what people expected of him. Having previously displayed his lightning quick reflexes during the almost catastrophic incident in the Monaco tunnel during Formula 2’s qualifying session last year, people knew he was a talented driver however after an unfortunate first race in Australia back in March where he crashed out in the first lap, people started to doubt him. Throughout the 2025 season Hadjar has proved that he deserves his place in F1, having outscored both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda almost every week and has even been on the podium, having finished 3rd at Zandvoort.
Current VCARB driver Liam Lawson is remaining with the team, maintaining his role of lead driver. Lawson was originally signed to Red Bull for the 2025 season but was moved back to VCARB after just two races with the team and was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. Although this swap was viewed as a demotion for Lawson, his performance drastically improved after the move and he has gained 38 points so far, five more than Tsunoda.
18 year-old Arvid Lindblad is the chosen rookie to step up into the second seat at VCARB. It has been suspected that the young Red Bull junior driver would be getting a promotion from Formula 2 since the news came out that Red Bull had requested the FIA to grant him an F1 Super Licence before his 18th birthday in August so he could partake in Free Practice sessions to test a Formula 1 car. He was allowed the licence in early June and appeared in the first Free Practice session at Silverstone on the 4th July, in Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull. Lindblad has been treated as a teenage protege by Red Bull, who have sponsored him since he was 13, competing in international karting competitions, so a lot is expected of him.
This reshuffle has left Yuki Tsunoda without a seat for the 2026 season but the Japanese driver will still remain a part of the Red Bull team, now becoming the reserve driver for Red Bull and VCARB.
Fans have commented for years about the disappointing performances that the Red Bull second drivers have delivered since Daniel Ricciardo left the team in 2018. Since Ricciardo’s departure from the team, they have had five second drivers, Hadjar will be the 6th since the 2019 season, hopefully Hadjar will be the one to alter the fate of the Red Bull second driver.
