Marko issues update on Red Bull juniors

Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko provides an update in the team's junior drivers, whilst singing the praises of Isack Hadjar, with the Frenchman currently second in the F2 standings.

The 19-year-old has enjoyed a strong start to his second campaign in F1's highest support category, having finished P14 last year. The series, along with FIA F3, will return this weekend, at the Spanish Grand Prix.

At the round in Monaco, Hadjar finished second-place in the feature race - and would have won had fortune not favoured Zak O'Sullivan with the timing of a late virtual safety car. However, he gained most attention after a scary unsighted near-miss going through the tunnel in qualifying, narrowly avoiding hitting the back of Ritomo Miyata's Rodin.

Sitting just two points behind championship leader Paul Aron five weekends in to the 14 round season, the Campos driver is well positioned despite having some poor luck, which Marko was keen to point out.

"Isack Hadjar is second in the overall Formula 2 standings and that only because of a lot of bad luck," the 81-year-old wrote in Speedweek.

"There were two crashes due to a fuel problem, which the car was to blame. In two other races he was driven off the track by opponents. So we are talking about four stoppages through no fault of his own, but still he is second in the standings.

"He also prevented a huge accident in the Monaco tunnel with an incredible reaction when he had to avoid the slow-moving Miyata. Hadjar is in good form and meets our expectations,"

The rest of the Red Bull stable

Marko also touched upon on the rest of team's driver academy cohort, following news it has terminated the contract of ex-junior Kacper Sztuka. 

Addressing the second of two Red Bull juniors in F2, the Austrian highlighted Pepe Marti, who is still in his rookie campaign, having stepped up from FIA F3 at the start of the year.

"Pepe Marti, our runner-up in Formula 2, is in 12th place. The Spaniard puts too much pressure on himself and makes mistakes, but that is not bad for a rookie," he wrote.

Despite cutting ties with MP Motorsport's Sztuka, Red Bull still has three drivers in the 30 car FIA F3 field. Leading the way is PREMA's Arvid Lindblad, who won on debut in the third tier, in the Bahrain sprint race.

"Arvid Lindblad is fifth. The 16-year-old Englishman came to F3 straight from Formula 4. He is constantly improving and doing very well," Marko added, before turning his attention to the remaining two drivers competing on the F1 feeder ladder.

The following can be said about our two Germans: Tim Tramnitz is showing a solid performance with seventh overall," he wrote, prior to finishing with a blunt assessment of Campos driver Oliver Geothe's grid-setting pace: "Oliver Goethe is weak in qualifying, but is one of the strongest drivers in the races and is showing great overtaking manoeuvres."