Red Bull Racing has one clear number one: Max Verstappen. A formula that has already delivered four world championships, multiple victories, and dozens of podiums and pole positions for both the driver and the team.

Yet that same dynamic has placed enormous pressure on whoever lines up alongside Verstappen, as few have come close to matching the Dutch champion's level. A long list of talented drivers has tried — Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Pérez, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson — and now Isack Hadjar.

Only Ricciardo and Pérez have managed to consistently push Verstappen, with the others enduring difficult and at times painful exits. In an interview with the official F1 website, Hadjar spoke candidly about what it means to share a garage with Max: "I think it comes purely from training — and I'd say, from karting.

"I've never had a moment where I thought, 'OK, this year I have a dominant team. It's going to be easy. I'll move up through the ranks without a problem.' It's always been constant pressure, and I've always had something to prove. So when you've been used to that since you were seven, eight, nine, ten years old — right up to now — you handle that pressure much better.

"I have to say, the pressure I put on myself to live up to my own standards is greater than anything anyone else could ask of me. It stresses me out far more than whatever is being demanded from the outside. At the end of the day, not letting myself down is what matters most.

"I'm genuinely excited, because this is the first time in my career that I'm building something from the ground up with a top team. Last year I joined at the tail end of a regulatory era, so I had no input into the car's direction or development. This year, it's essentially the beginning of a major, major challenge — and that's exciting, knowing the car is going to keep improving in terms of performance," he said.

Sergio "Checo" Pérez was signed by Red Bull at the end of 2020, at a point when his Formula 1 career appeared to be winding down. He replaced Alexander Albon and played a pivotal role in Verstappen's title triumph in 2021.

In both 2022 and 2023, Pérez helped the team clinch the Constructors' Championship alongside Verstappen, finishing second in the Drivers' standings in 2023 and securing a historic victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.

However, his performance began to decline from that point on. He would start each season strongly, only to lose pace in the second half and fall further behind his teammate. In 2024, Pérez finished eighth in the championship — the weakest performance by a world champion's teammate in 41 years of continuous competition.

After months of speculation, the decision was made: Liam Lawson was announced as his replacement for 2025, becoming Verstappen's fifth teammate at Red Bull.