Last Updated on January 28 2026, 7:48 pm

The Red Bull Racing team which over the past fifteen years has won fourteen driver and constructor titles is facing the start of 2026 with a whole new leadership team. Gone is the team’s guru car designer Adrian Newey, along with Christian Horner who was sacked for political reasons after the 2025 British Grand Prix.

Other key figures who have departed the Milton Keynes base include Rob Marshal, Jonathan Wheatley and the indefatigable Dr. Helmut Marko. In charge of Red Bull racing is Frenchman Laurent Mekies who appeared to revive the team’s flagging fortunes in 2025 as he oversaw a comeback for the team’s quadruple world champion in 2025. 

Max Verstappen came from 104 points adrift in the drivers’ title to finish just two behind Lando Norris come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. And it could well be the change in Red Bull’s leadership team will result in a change of fortunes for the driver who occupies the ‘cursed’ second seat in the team. Isack Hadjar who’s talent was clear to see at Racing Bulls last season is the latest in a long line of drivers to be promoted alongside Max Verstappen since the departure of Daniel Ricciardo at the end of 2018.

 

 

 

The curse of the Red Bull second seat

Yet raw talent is not enough to success at Red Bull alongside the Dutch world champion driver as the likes of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly have demonstrated since their departure from the Milton Keynes based squad. Sergio Perez is another example of a more than competent driver whose demise at Red Bull was both shocking and difficult to interpret.

The Mexican driver had finished second in the drivers’ title race in 2023 and finished runner up to his team mate at the opening rounds of the 2024 campaign. Yet the upgrades to the Newey designed car made the RB20 incredibly difficult to drive which saw peers slump from second in the drivers’ title race in 2024 to eight come the end of the year.

Whilst the F1 headlines promoted the idea that the Mexican driver was losing his edge and capabilities, behind the scenes in Milton Keynes it was the direction of travel in terms of the in season upgrades to the RB20 which punished the Mexican driver.

Yet it could be that the departure of Newey, who most believed to be Red Bull racing’s biggest asset, will benefit the latest pretender to the seat alongside Max Verstappen. Of course Newey has proven to be the master of unlocking the secrets to the changes in the FIA technical car design regulations, but his philosophy as part of the design process which disregards the drivers feeling from driving the car is one which has hurt the likes of Albon, Gasly and Perez. 

F1’s stunning success should have been shouted from the mountain top

 

 

 

Newey’s departure may favour Hadjar

David Coulthard drove a number of Newey designed cars wining races in them at Williams and McLaren before joining the fledging Red Bull team to work with F1’s maestro again. In a conversation with James Hinchliffe he reveals that Newey’s mindset is simple; to design the fastest car possible and let the drivers work out the driving style it requires.

When asked about the prospects for Red Bull’s latest recruit, Isack Hadjar, the American explained histhroughts on there Red Flag Podcast. “Yeah, I don’t know man, maybe Hadjar can step into that role, maybe he can be the new Max. He’s still on the team that’s got the reputation, we know he’s got a bit of fire to him, that could happen.”

When asked on the likelihood of Hadjar breaking the curse of the second Red Bull seat, Hinchliffe replied: “There’s so many variables to that, it’s so hard to know. Because, yes, it’s a new ruleset, right? But Red Bull’s gone through several rule sets and the Verstappen/teammate relationship has kind of been the same throughout them, right?

Jaw dropping admission Hamilton is 100% ready to change his driving style

 

 

 

Coulthard reveals Newey cares little for his drivers’ feelings

“But it’s the first one that’s not Newey-inspired, so is there something to that? Is there something the way that Adrian designs cars that are just that much trickier to drive?” The American went on to explain how a conversation with Coulthard had framed his thoughts.

“DC’s (David Coulthard) telling is like, he doesn’t really care about the drivers’ feelings. This is the fastest way to build a car, you figure out how to drive it, that’s your job. My job is to build the fastest car, your job is to drive it as quick as possible. So, without that mentality, if they’re going to try to build a car that’s a little more forgiving, maybe more all-rounded, give up a little bit of pure pace for a little bit of drivability, that could play into Hadjar’s benefit.”

Of course if this proves to be the case, Hadjar will take all the plaudits for being the first driver since 2018 who can take it to Verstappen. Then again, the all new F1 powertrains will categorically increase the workload for the driver by a significant amount and Hinchliffe argues the driver best placed to deal with this is Max Verstappen.

Red Bull silence doubters as Aston Martin to miss more testing days

 

 

 

Verstappen may stretch further ahead of the field

“Obviously, he’s phenomenally talented, and with a complete new ruleset, it’s as good a chance as anyone has,” said the ex-Indycar racer. “But you read all the stuff now about what’s going to make the real difference behind the wheel in this new reg set, and it’s that extra bandwidth, that extra capacity to manage energy and all the rest of it.

“And I’m sorry guys, there’s nobody on the grid that has more bandwidth in hand than Verstappen. So, there’s a chance he’s actually going to be even higher than everybody, the gap’s going to even grow to the rest of the field,” Hincliffe concludes.

The Red Bull family’s latest recruit, Arvid Lindblad, took to the track today in the Barcelona preseason test, although his latest effort at the time of writing was over three seconds behind the leader George Russell in his Mercedes. 

 

 

 

Audi boos explains its Barcelona testing nightmare

Audi’s Formula 1 team boss opens up about the early setback – The German manufacturer’s first official Formula 1 test outing did not go entirely to plan, with technical difficulties being encountered on the opening day of running in Barcelona. Team principal Jonathan Wheatley has now provided insight into what went wrong and why the team chose to halt its programme early.

Speaking after the session, Wheatley confirmed that Audi had detected a technical issue with its new R26 challenger and had made the cautious decision to stop running altogether….. READ MORE