Red Bull praise F1 seat 'contender' with unique Max Verstappen comparison

Isack Hadjar has been compared to Max Verstappen by Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, following the Frenchman's strong start to his debut F1 season.

Specifically, the 82-year-old believes the Racing Bulls driver shares the four-time drivers' champion's ability to immediately be "on the ball" with car changes or new conditions and environments.

Whilst discussing some of the contributing factors to the disparity between Verstappen and his team-mates, Marko highlighted how "every other driver" to partner the 27-year-old needs longer to adapt to the significant set-up alterations Red Bull often makes between Fridays and Saturdays on F1 weekends.

"I think there are several factors," Marko explained to Sport.de. "Take Yuki Tsunoda, for example: On Friday [at Imola], when our car was completely uncompetitive, he was within a tenth of a second [of Verstappen].

"Then the big change came on Saturday, and he dropped back a second. Max simply doesn't need any time to get used to it. If a car reacts completely differently, he'll get the hang of it within one or two laps.

"Every other driver needs a similar amount of time with such drastic changes as we've made. So, suddenly, Tsunoda is once again significantly behind."

However, when asked about Hadjar and whether the 20-year-old could be the answer to Red Bull's struggle to find Verstappen an appropriate team-mate, Marko underlined the similarity he sees between the two drivers.

Tsunoda's contract expires at the end of the season and it is not yet close to being decided whether the Japanese driver will continue with the six-time constructors' champions, prompting the line of questioning about Hadjar.

The F2 drivers' title runner-up has been one of the stand-out performers in F1 this year, stringing together a series of Q3 visits and points finishes.

"Hadjar is certainly one of the big surprises," the Austrian replied. "He was fast from the start, except for his slip-up in the first race [at Melbourne].

"Like Max, he’s on the ball after three laps, even though he wasn’t familiar with most of the tracks. Unfortunately, Racing Bulls didn’t make the right strategic decisions again in Imola; Hadjar could have finished sixth.

"He’s been in Q3 every time, in the points every time—unobtrusive, unspectacular, but incredibly fast. With more practice, it’s clear he could be a contender."

Hadjar enjoyed his best result to date last time out in Monaco, crossing the line in sixth place.