Isack Hadjar steps up to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls this year, with the 2024 F2 runner-up having started to write F1 off after a slow start to last year’s campaign.

Hadjar is one or two rookies in the Red Bull stable for the F1 2025 season, with the 20-year-old Frenchman getting the nod to drive alongside Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls this year after claiming second in the Formula 2 championship fight.

Isack Hadjar: My mum knew about F1 drive before me!

Hadjar came back strongly from a slow start to the F2 championship to challenge Brazilian driver Gabriel Bartoleto for the title, with the duo separated by just half a point after the penultimate round in Qatar.

Ultimately, the title went in Bartoleto’s favour as he takes that crown into his maiden F1 season with Sauber this year, but Hadjar also earned an F1 promotion as Red Bull made changes to their driver line-ups by dropping Sergio Perez and promoting Liam Lawson from his Racing Bulls seat.

This left an open seat for the Faenza-based team, where Hadjar was promptly promoted.

However, the possibility of F1 slipping away from his grasp was a realistic thought for the young Frenchman in 2024. Having finished 14th in his maiden season in F2 in 2023 after finishing fourth in F3 the previous year, a slow start to 2024 meant some phone calls from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko to urge him on.

“I thought F1 was gone, when, after the first two races, I started my championship quite slowly,” Hadjar told PlanetF1.com in an exclusive interview during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“But this was purely based on performance, nothing political.

“Then, later on, when I was starting to lead the championship, there were moments where I thought, ‘Okay, that was it. I’m really close to having it’, and times where it was not clear.

“I was doubting quite a bit.”

But, with constant speculation and whispers about what Red Bull may do with its team line-ups, Hadjar noticed that everything changed in the build-up to the final two weekends of the F2 championship in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

“The last two races of the year, after the long break after Baku, and going into Qatar and Abu Dhabi – the body language of people was a bit more positive,” he said.

“The dynamic and everything seemed like I was having the seat, and then I was confirmed after Abu Dhabi.

“It was like a week after – I was in Milton Keynes in the sim and Helmut called me to sign my contract.

“He didn’t say, ‘Welcome to F1’ or whatever, he just told me to jump on the plane and just go to Italy!”

Just 20 years old, Hadjar hasn’t yet quite grown accustomed to chatting with journalists – it’s evident from him nervously bouncing in his seat, and a reluctance to make eye contact. But, upon asking him who he first called to tell the good news to, he visibly relaxes.

“My mum, although, to be fair, she knew before me,” he smiles.

“She manages me! But that’s who I called first. She’s the best manager out there!”

Joking with him that she clearly drove a hard bargain during contract negotiations, we circle back to his relationship with Marko. The Austrian’s reputation is fearsome, after all, and his approval of a driver can make or break a career before it ever properly kicks off.

It’s an approach that separates those who flourish working with such a personality, and Hadjar smiles when I ask whether he’s been on the receiving end of one of Marko’s infamous 7 am calls to address the events of the weekend just passed, explaining that he’s usually asleep at that time…

But Marko’s direct nature sits well with Hadjar, who explained, “There are no filters at all. He has a good sense of humour as well. So I have a good relationship but it’s not really close – we haven’t spoken in over two months.

“I’m direct myself, so I like someone who’s the same in front of me, no bulls**t.”

Isack Hadjar on adjusting to F1 after ‘way too slow’ F2 campaign

Towards the end of last year, Hadjar dovetailed his F2 championship with an F1 reserve role for the two Red Bull teams, as well as driving the RB20 in FP1 at the British and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, as well as in the post-season test at Yas Marina.

Curiously, it’s the F1 work that Hadjar feels he’s benefitted the most in recent months – more so than in F2, which he believes isn’t quite up to the task of preparing drivers for the world of F1 in terms of the actual driving.

“F2 and F1 are worlds apart in terms of car performance, but the rest – like the competition, the way of working with the team, I learned a lot in F2,” he said.

“But the cars are way too slow. F1 is like 15 seconds faster, it’s a bit too much.

“On the technical side of things, being the reserve was good, like being there for the last few races and joining the team now, I feel like I know most of the people already, so I’m not really new. So that helps my transition to F1.”

Asked whether he thinks F2 is fit for purpose, or whether there are better series out there to help with F1 preparation, he pointed to Japan’s top-level single seater championship.

“Super Formula, I think it’s a good in between,” he said.

“But there are things you find in F2 like the tracks… and I would say the level as well is a bit higher.”

Last year, Hadjar picked up the nickname of ‘Petit Prost’, ie. Little Prost, in reference to his compatriot in four-time F1 World Champion Alain Prost.

Prost was well-known for his cerebral and intelligent approach to racing, applying perhaps a more analytical approach to his racing exploits than his rivals – an approach that paired well with his speed and racecraft.

Hadjar picked up the nickname, which Le Parisien gifted upon him after a canny victory in the Australian Sprint race, and said he takes the approach of being as aware as possible when taking part in a race.

“I would say I use my head a lot when I’m behind the wheel,” he said.

“I stay really aware, let’s say. The more practice I get, the more information, the better I am. I would say I’m not the type to jump straight in and first push… bam, bam, bam. It’s not really my style. I use my head a lot, I’d say.”

As for what he looks for from a car, Hadjar explained that he is a “hustler”, and said, “I use brakes on entry a lot – I like being sharp on entries. I like a good rear end and entry stability in high-speed, medium speed.

“You want front end. The best balance is not oversteer or understeer – just a neutral balance. The best balance is basically both axles slipping away at the same time. That’s the ideal balance, but it doesn’t exist.”

Isack Hadjar and the dreaded team radio topic

Much has been made of Hadjar occasionally being somewhat irate and grumpy over team radio, a trait that hasn’t sat well with his team in recent years as Yuki Tsunoda has also been guilty of allowing emotions to hamper his driving.

Marko has urged Hadjar to “keep his emotions under control”, while Red Bull team boss has labelled him an “emotive communicator”.

The Frenchman said he has a firm tactic in mind to ensure that his reputation doesn’t become exacerbated should he find himself getting annoyed on track.

“In F1 now, I’m a team member, I get paid to drive. In F2, it’s quite the opposite,” he said.

“So you don’t think about those really – you’re just there to make your way to F1 and I never really worked on my radio communication and everything.

“But it seems like in F1 now, it’s a huge thing, especially with the swearing. So I just keep the radio button off. To be fair, in F2, I never thought about it. I was just saying what I was thinking to my guy, and that was it.

“But, in F1, I feel like I am more listened to and can’t talk too much.”

Given that Tsunoda’s career has arguably not progressed as much as it should have due to his lack of emotional control over team radio, it will be curious to see whether Hadjar has taken heed of the pitfalls of continuing in the same vein.

Tsunoda is a “cool and good guy”, according to Hadjar, laughing as he reveals the Japanese driver knows all the best restaurants in Milan. Another shared characteristic with Tsunoda is that of a dislike for the regimented physical training F1 drivers must go through, with Tsunoda having infamously revealed his hatred of this training a few years ago.

“The training is not fun, like entertaining at all,” he said.

“Like F1 training is like reinforcement stuff, long runs, it’s not fun at all. I really don’t like it. I prefer boxing!

“Neck training, honestly, none of it. I like sports. Training, like physical preparation, no athlete likes it. It’s not true!”

It’s a big year for Hadjar. Along with it being his first year in Formula 1, there’s also the possibility – however slim and theoretical – that a seat could open up at Red Bull should either Liam Lawson or Max Verstappen depart – for whatever reason – while Hadjar also has to worry about the rapid rise of Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad coming up behind him.

Lindblad has earned the praise of Marko already and, entering F2, is also knocking on the door of F1 this year as he’s already gained sufficient points for an FIA Super Licence.

Given the known quantity that is Tsunoda in the other Racing Bulls machine, what targets has Hadjar set for himself to accomplish this season?

“I don’t have a target. Especially when I know I don’t have the fastest car, right?” he responded.

“So, in F2 you’re like, ‘OK, I want to win this championship – in F3, I want to win this championship’.

“Here, I know I can’t win the championship, right? So I’m going to do what I’m doing since I’m six years old – just jump in the car and extract the most of it. What is going to bring me? No idea.

“I don’t think it’s a fixed target really. Obviously I have a good reference next to me – he’s really experienced, really fast, so getting close to him to start with would be good.”

But, if he is worried about Lindblad, he doesn’t show it – his own quest for perfection commands more of himself than his bosses do as he sums up, “The pressure I put on myself to deliver on track is much higher than external pressure…”

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