Red Bull will promote Frenchman Isack Hadjar to the senior team and give 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad his Formula 1 debut in 2026.
Lindblad, whose father is Swedish and mother is of Indian descent, will be a team-mate of New Zealander Liam Lawson in the Bulls’ second team.
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A shuffle in Red Bull’s driver lineup has seen Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda lose his starting spot after five seasons.
Hajar, 21, will become team-mate to four-time champion Max Verstappen after an impressive rookie season with the Bulls, which included a superb podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Lindblad will join five other British drivers next year – Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Mercedes’ George Russell, Haas’ Oliver Behrmann and Williams’ Alex Albon, who although racing in Thailand was born and raised in the UK.
Lindblad said it was a “proud moment”, adding: “2026 will be a huge challenge and I know there is a lot to learn, but I’m ready to work closely with the team and take on the challenge. I can’t wait to get started.”
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Who is Arvid Lindblad?
Arvid Lindblad drives Red Bull in first practice for this year’s British and Mexico City Grands Prix [Getty Images]
Lindblad has been considered a potential future star by Red Bull since he was 12 years old.
Discussing the company’s young driver program, Red Bull Motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said last year that Lindblad “really looks promising” and praised his “pure pace”.
Red Bull has been working since last year to prepare Lindblad for his F1 debut in 2026. They planned a plan for this season that would see him score enough points to earn the F1 “super license” needed to compete in grands prix.
He completed two F1 practice sessions at the British and Mexico City Grand Prix.
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Marco said: “In a Formula 3 race [at Silverstone in 2024]he passed 10 or 14 other riders in one lap, I don’t know. He won the race from last place in tricky conditions including wet and dry conditions.
“If I think back, the first time I met him was in Portimão (Portugal). Portimão has a very attractive karting circuit and we had a Formula 1 race and I met him and his father. The person who dominated the conversation was Arvid, who was only about 12 years old at the time. So it was also something abnormal.
“But he had a clear vision and a clear approach to getting there. From that point on, he made steady progress.”
Lindblad has won two races in F2 this year and sits sixth in the standings heading into this weekend’s final round in Abu Dhabi.
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He was born and raised in Virginia Water, Surrey, and is managed by British Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland.
A huge opportunity and test for Hajar
On August 31, Isack Hadjar celebrated his first F1 podium at the Dutch Grand Prix [Getty Images]
Hajjar’s F1 career began at a low point when he spun in the wet during the warm-up lap of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. He burst into tears and was comforted by Hamilton’s father, Anthony, as he walked back to the Bulls’ garage.
But since then he has been one of the standout rookies of the season, averaging 10th on the grid and beating teammate Liam Lawson by an average of 0.186 seconds in qualifying, 22 to 5.
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Hajjar is tenth in the standings with one grand prix remaining in the season.
But he faces a serious challenge from Verstappen, who has outperformed all of his teammates across the board since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018.
Red Bull Racing Team Principal Laurent Mekis said: “Isaac showed great maturity and proved himself to be a quick learner. Above all, he showed raw speed, which is the first requirement in this sport.
“We believe Isaac can thrive with Max and do wonders on the track.”
Hajar described it as “a great move” and said he felt “ready”.
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Red Bull preferred Lawson to Tsunoda for a spot with Lindblad at the Bulls.
Lawson started playing for Red Bull in 2025, but was swapped with Tsunoda after just two games and was demoted to the youth team. He raced alongside Verstappen and performed so poorly that Red Bull felt they had no choice but to remove him from his seat.
But he has returned to F1 with Bulls and some strong performances – including fifth in Azerbaijan and sixth in Austria – have led Red Bull to believe he deserves more time.
He made 34 starts in three years but will begin his second full season in 2026.
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Tsunoda, meanwhile, was ousted from his F1 seat after a disappointing season with Verstappen.
The 25-year-old has long believed he deserved a chance at Red Bull’s main team, but he has been unable to justify his stance.
His best result was sixth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and his points in the constructors’ championship were just 7% of Red Bull’s points.
He has overtaken Verstappen only once in qualifying, last weekend’s sprint to Qatar, and has averaged 0.644 seconds behind the Dutchman all season, by far the biggest gap between his team-mates on the grid.
Verstappen has won seven races and heads to Abu Dhabi with McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri for the world title.
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Irish driver Alex Dunne is also missing from the Red Bull driver programme.
The 20-year-old parted ways with McLaren in September and had received interest from Red Bull.
However, while Marko is said to want to take on Dunne, other senior members of Red Bull have not, with Mekies telling BBC Sport that Dunne is not in their plans.
Dunn will continue to compete in F2 with his current team Rodin next season and is in talks with Alpine to join their driver development programme.
