Red Bull near 2026 lineup with Verstappen and Hadjar under contract

Red Bull Racing is nearing a decision on its 2026 driver lineups, with motorsport adviser Helmut Marko confirming that Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar are under contract for next year but that final seat allocations across Red Bull Racing and sister team Racing Bulls remain unresolved. Team officials expect to confirm the wider driver program within weeks as the sport moves toward a rules reset for 2026.

Marko said the only certainties at this stage are contracts for Verstappen and Hadjar, and that the team is still determining which garage each driver will occupy. He has signalled a preference for promoting Hadjar at the point the new regulations take effect, arguing that the 2026 cars and their recovery systems will present a different technical challenge and could be an optimal moment to integrate a rookie into a senior seat.

The timing matters because Red Bull operates four seats across two teams and can reassign drivers centrally. That structure has prompted scenarios in which Hadjar moves up to partner Verstappen while Racing Bulls takes on one or two junior drivers. Arvid Lindblad, the 18 year old Formula 2 contender, has been tested by the team at Mugello to evaluate...