Laurent Mekies praised Isack Hadjar’s performance at the 2026 Formula 1 (F1) Azerbaijan GP after the Red Bull driver made an impressive return to racing in Baku.
Isack Hadjar returned to the cockpit after being sidelined through injury and immediately showed competitive pace around the demanding Baku City Circuit. After securing fourth place in qualifying, he continued to impress Red Bull with his race pace and approach alongside teammate Max Verstappen.
Mekies hails Hadjar’s “outstanding” 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP comeback
Hadjar’s return came at one of the most unforgiving circuits on the calendar, where the narrow layout leaves little margin for error. Red Bull had previously made clear that it wanted to wait until he had fully recovered before putting him back in the car.
For Mekies, the first positive sign therefore came from Hadjar being able to drive without pain. From there, the Frenchman gradually built his confidence and pace throughout the weekend rather than immediately taking unnecessary risks. His progress culminated in a strong qualifying performance, as Hadjar put his Red Bull fourth on the grid.
“I think it was outstanding what Isack [Hadjar] has produced this weekend. Really outstanding. At first, the most important thing is that he felt straight away good in the car, no pain, which means that every time that we met together in the last few weeks and we said we will wait for Isack to come back at 100%, because that’s the priority. Well, that’s what happened. He was in the car, he didn’t have any pain. It’s not, nonetheless, even without pain, it’s not an easy track to go back to because of the no margin for error. And he has been building up his rhythm, session after session, very calmly, with a lot of energy, with a lot of positive energy. And today, you know, already yesterday, to stick the car in P4 was already a very, very strong result.“
Hadjar “raised the bar again” on his return
Isack Hadjar carried his qualifying form into the Grand Prix, with his pace on both the medium and soft tyres standing out to Mekies. He was glued to Max Verstappen’s gearbox through the first stint, before forcing Oscar Piastri into an error after the second Safety Car restart to take 3rd.
Red Bull had already seen the youngster make consistent progress earlier in the 2026 season. Despite spending time away from the cockpit, Mekies believes Hadjar immediately continued that development on his return.
“I think today the sort of race pace he has shown on the medium, on the soft, is something that we had not seen before. So on the weekend of his return, he has raised the bar again. You know, we say to each other very often that we have seen him adding something to the business every time he was going out on the track in the first part of the season, whereas he is continuing to do that.”
His performance also required him to work closely with Verstappen when they were behind the Australian in the first stint.
Mekies highlighted Hadjar’s tyre management and disciplined approach as important factors in allowing Red Bull to coordinate the two cars and maximise the team’s result.
“And on top of that, allow me to say, he also raced extremely cleverly with Max [Verstappen], very disciplined with his tyres, and it allowed us to have a very, very strong teamwork between them two, between the pitwall, and ultimately produce the best result possible. The real answer is that it is not clear yet.It will very much depend on how we analyse the issues we had on his engine yesterday, which we had to take off the car, and whether or not we can use that engine again. And based on that, we will see if we can make it to the end with his number four engine.“
Hadjar’s radio approach highlights growing maturity
Isack Hadjar’s approach while racing Verstappen offered Red Bull another indication of his development beyond outright pace.
During the opening stint, he remained measured over the radio as the team assessed the situation between its drivers. Rather than immediately demanding a position change, Hadjar communicated with the pit wall and appeared willing to manage his race behind his teammate.
Mekies believes those moments during the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP show how Hadjar has developed his ability to process situations while driving.
Alongside finding more speed, Red Bull has noticed progress in his decision-making and emotional control. Those qualities have added to the trajectory that has impressed the team since Hadjar joined at the start of 2026, with Red Bull aiming to provide an environment in which he can continue that development.
“I think you are pinpointing exactly on the right details that makes you understand a lot more about the right pictures. You know, it shows you how cleverly the kid is racing and how much of brain capacity is developing while in the car and how much emotion control he is managing to have. And it’s as many indicators of steps he has made in all these areas on top of producing more speed. So it’s exactly that trajectory that has been impressing us every day since he has joined the team. And probably last year as well. And that’s also there, that we want to give him the best possible environment for him to continue to develop because that step was truly impressive.”
