Red Bull's Helmut Marko reveals the Isack Hadjar prophecy that came true in F1 Dutch GP

Red Bull's Helmut Marko has revealed that Isack Hadjar prophesied that he would qualify in the top 5 in the F1 Dutch GP before the session had even begun. The Frenchman put together his career's best race last Sunday, where he qualified inside the top 5 and kept his head to secure his first career podium.

The rookie's 2025 F1 season has been an impressive one in many ways. He started the year on the wrong foot when he crashed out on the formation lap of his first career race.

Since then, however, the one thing that has stood out for Isack Hadjar is his pace. He's had both Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda as his teammates, and neither of them ever appeared to have a definite edge on him.

In fact, Lawson has been overshadowed by the youngster, as he has continued to put things together with more consistency when compared to the Kiwi.

His first podium with Racing Bulls has also turned out to be a watershed moment for him, as it has made Red Bull's Helmut Marko tip his hat for the driver.

With a potential promotion as Yuki Tsunoda's replacement in 2026 on the cards, Marko was questioned if he'd be fine putting Isack Hadjar next to Max Verstappen, who has proven to be a teammate killer.

The Austrian was seemingly in awe of the French driver as he brushed aside the doubts. Talking about the youngster to Motorsport, Marko revealed that Hadjar is different and would be able to tackle the pressure that comes with being at Red Bull. Revealing the Hadjar prophecy before the session, Marko said,

"But Isack is different. He had these engine problems on Friday. He completely missed one session, and missed 50% of the other one or so. But he wasn't worried. He said, 'I have the speed, I will qualify in the top five'.”

Commending the driver's run, he said,

“He had to fight pretty hard for it, you know. I saw Russell attack him several times. And the other driver was Leclerc. They really tried, but he stayed calm. He didn't do anything wrong. So, yeah, there's a good one coming.”

Just like Isack Hadjar, Helmut Marko has the Olive branch for Yuki Tsunoda

Just like Isack Hadjar, Red Bull boss Helmut Marko was not too dismissive of the driver he might potentially replace at the senior team. While Hadjar spent the entire race running at the front, Yuki Tsunoda had an up-and-down race and would only just sneak into points. Marko, however, wasn't critical of Yuki, as he revealed how the driver was quite unlucky with safety car timing. He said,

“This time he was unlucky with the safety car. He changed tyres and two laps later the safety car came, so that put him towards the end of the field. But he also didn't do anything wrong.”

For the 2026 F1 season, Marko hasn't made a commitment to any of the drivers yet. It does appear that there's still a lot to play for when it comes to driver lineups, and things will take some time to get clearer.