Isack Hadjar scored his third podium as a Red Bull driver at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, continuing his strong debut season with the team.

Hadjar is eighth in the standings but, extrapolating his points-per-race advantage (7.18), he would be close to seventh-place Oscar Piastri had he not missed three races with a wrist fracture. Max Verstappen may be in second place, but Red Bull finally have a second driver who can run consistently at the front.

They can rely on Hadjar to reach Q3 and score solid points every weekend, a luxury they haven’t had since the height of the Sergio Perez years. And crucially, the Frenchman is fast enough – only 0.143 seconds slower than Verstappen on average – to suggest he can win races in the future.

Red Bull’s concerns about Isack Hadjar’s attitude were justified

That’s the good, but Red Bull have also had to deal with the bad in Hadjar’s first season.

According to The New Zealand Herald, there was a ‘reluctance’ to bring him into F1 with Racing Bulls in the first place ‘given his at-times petulant nature’. This reputation was based on a series of radio messages in Formula 2 that were so aggressive they cut through into the F1 mainstream.

Too often, he has been unable to process moments of adversity during races, leading to borderline rude exchanges with engineer Richard Wood.

“It is definitely something he can work on, and he knows that,” Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane told The Race over the winter. “Yes, he does get frustrated when things go wrong with himself or with the car.”

Ralf Schumacher criticised Hadjar’s behaviour, suggesting it wasn’t appropriate in Formula 1. The driver himself acknowledged after Austin that ‘there’s stuff I should have kept for myself’, via Motorsport.com.

Crucially, Hadjar has been fast enough for Laurent Mekies to tolerate his occasional outbursts. It’s also worth noting that he’s still only 22, and that several other drivers, including his teammate Verstappen, are prone to losing their temper over the radio.

Hadjar was arguably Racing Bulls’ most impressive rookie since Verstappen in 2015, which made him a shoo-in for the top team after Yuki Tsunoda’s underwhelming campaign last year.

Red Bull took a risk signing him, and ultimately it has paid off. But Hadjar is far from the finished article, both when it comes to his driving and his mentality.