Anthony Davidson agrees with Isack Hadjar’s engineer Pierre Hamlin that the Racing Bulls rookie has been ‘super’ impressive and particularly likes one thing he has seen.
The 20-year-old is now three rounds into his fledgling Formula 1 career after Red Bull placed Hadjar at Racing Bulls for his rookie campaign. Red Bull opted to promote the Frenchman to their junior team after he ranked second for the 2024 Formula 2 drivers’ title by 22.5 points.
Hadjar initially received his call to debut with Racing Bulls after Red Bull moved Liam Lawson up to replace Sergio Perez in their main team. Yet they are now teammates in Faenza as Yuki Tsunoda replaced Lawson at Red Bull for his home race at this week’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Isack Hadjar’s response to his Australian GP crash ‘really impressed’ Anthony Davidson
His new life in the pinnacle of motorsport has not been entirely smooth for Hadjar, with the Paris native crashing out on the formation lap for his debut at the Australian Grand Prix. The youngster lost control of his VCARB 02 through the second corner in the rain in Melbourne.
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko called Hadjar ‘embarrassing’ for crying after he retired from Australian GP. But the Frenchman bounced back in Shanghai as Hadjar got P11 in the Chinese Grand Prix as Racing Bulls stuck with a two-stop strategy in a one-stop race.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know
| Category | Isack Hadjar | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 2025 points | 0 | 3 |
| Grand Prix results | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Prix wins | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix poles | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 0 | 0 |
| Best finish | 11th | 12th |
| Retirements | 0 | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint results | 0 | 1 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 0 | 1 |
| Sprint wins | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint poles | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint podiums | 0 | 0 |
Hadjar ‘really impressed’ Davidson with his response in China and the Sky Sports pundit has shared that his Racing Bulls engineer Hamlin told him that he has also been very impressed. Now, Davidson is keen to watch how Hadjar continues to develop ahead of the Japanese GP.
Davidson told Sky Sports Main Event (04/04, 06:59): “I think since that oopsie that he had in Melbourne, and he really beat himself up for it, since then he’s really impressed me.
“I spoke to his engineer Pierre Hamlin, as well, and he said so far he’s been super impressed by him and I’m looking forward to seeing his progress.”
Isack Hadjar is showing what rookie F1 drivers can offer but remains without a point
Davidson is not alone in admiring Hadjar’s start to the 2025 Formula 1 season after he even out-qualified Tsunoda for the Chinese GP. The Paris native achieved P7 in Q3 as the now Red Bull driver secured P9 with a 0.559s gap between them, but Racing Bulls’ strategy backfired.
Jolyon Palmer picks Hadjar as the ‘most impressive’ 2025 F1 rookie ahead of Lawson (who is a full-season rookie), Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Haas’ Oliver Bearman, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (who beat the Racing Bulls gem to the 2024 F2 title).
The Frenchman is also full of confidence in his own ability as Hadjar thinks he has the same ‘intellectual approach’ as Alain Prost. Racing Bulls will hope that approach now helps him at the Japanese GP as Hadjar chases his first points in Formula 1 at a track he had never driven.
