Red Bull has been cautioned against promoting Isack Hadjar too soon, with Johnny Herbert highlighting how it has gone "terribly wrong" for the team in the past.
Instead, the three-time grand prix winner wants to see the Milton Keynes-based squad afford Yuki Tsunoda more time alongside Max Verstappen.
The Japanese driver was drafted in to replace Liam Lawson — in a straight swap — two rounds into the current F1 season, just before his home race at Suzuka.
However, the 25-year-old, whilst an upgrade on the New Zealander, has fallen far short of the expected level of performance at the six-time constructors' champions.
In fact, it is hard to argue that the pair have not been a considerable downgrade on Sergio Perez, who was relieved of his duties over the winter due to poor results last year
Besides a sixth-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Tsunoda has struggled to score points in the RB21. At the following round, in Singapore, he could only cross the line in P12.
Reflecting on his torrid campaign, Herbert told bettinglounge.co.uk: "It still hasn't quite clicked for Yuki, whatever you say.
"Was it close to [clicking in] Singapore? Yes. Was that just the track? Probably yes. But it's still not happened in the way that all of us would think, 'he's actually raised a bar'.
"That hasn't really happened. It’s better, but it hasn't created enough because nobody's talking about him."
It is widely anticipated that Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar will be brought into the top team for 2026, despite his relative inexperience.
Although he will have over double the number of grands prix under his belt than Alex Albon (12) and Liam Lawson (11) did before they were parachuted into the team, Herbert is worried Red Bull is repeating previous mistakes.
"The guy people are talking about is Hadjar," the 61-year-old said. "There's still a lot of talk about what he's achieved with Racing Bulls. And there's a potential, obviously, for that move to Red Bull to replace Tsunoda.
"I'd hope they'd give him another year, because every time they drag someone in who probably hasn't quite had enough experience into the big team, it always goes terribly wrong."
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Hadjar needs time to get 'mentally prepared' for Red Bull
Instead, Herbert, who raced in F1 from 1989 to 2000, wants to see Red Bull give Hadjar "more time to blossom" before being put into the "pressure cooker" of the top team.
"So, I think they need to rethink their strategy to give Hadjar a little bit more time to blossom and develop and get himself mentally prepared," he argued.
When you're in a Racing Bulls, I would imagine it's the same as some of the smaller teams; it's a very different environment.
"Expectations are completely different. They're ramped up a thousand percent when you get into a big team.
"Hadjar is growing so well in his first season. He told Alonso not to be grumpy in Singapore!
"He's got respect inside the team, and also with [Helmut] Marko and Red Bull. He's done all the right things, but he still has time before he is put into that pressure cooker."
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