Hadjar, “Little Prost” from Red Bull: Marko praises the rookie after podium finish

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed that some scoffed when he dubbed Isack Hadjar the “little Prost”, a label that, according to him, the French driver validated with his podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.Hadjar, 20 years old, became the most recent to climb the F1 podium in Zandvoort, representing the Red Bull junior team, Racing Bulls.The young driver qualified in fourth position and his outstanding race was rewarded after Lando Norris’s retirement, which allowed him to move up to third place.Marko, known for overseeing Red Bull’s driver academy, has always been a supporter of the young talent.

We chose him, so we knew he was special. I call him the “little Prost”, the new one.

Helmut Marko

Marko added that, at first, people laughed, but now Hadjar has proven his worth.He also highlighted Hadjar’s impressive ability to be competitive on a new circuit after only three laps, and how he was unaffected by the engine problems during practice.According to Marko, Hadjar showed great confidence in promising to qualify in the top five.Despite this, Red Bull has not yet decided Hadjar’s future, although he seems to be the strongest candidate to accompany Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season.

Although the junior team was created to support young talents, it has had difficulties in recent years.Both Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon struggled as Verstappen’s teammates, but Sergio Pérez’s drop in performance led the team to turn to Liam Lawson, a product of the junior academy, this season.Lawson was replaced after two races by Yuki Tsunoda, but the results of the Japanese driver have not improved significantly. Marko declined to comment on the next step for Hadjar.Marko responded with a smile: “We’ll decide that later.”Arvid Lindblad, Red Bull junior driver, currently leads Formula 2 and looks like a strong candidate to move up to the Racing Bulls team next season.