Isack Hadjar will be the 17th Red Bull Junior Team star to graduate to Formula 1 when the Frenchman debuts for Racing Bulls in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix on March 16.
Faenza has welcomed yet another fresh face to the Formula 1 grid this year as Red Bull have dropped Hadjar at Racing Bulls after promoting Liam Lawson to replace Sergio Perez in their main team. The Italian crew often act as an F1 finishing school for Red Bull’s young hopefuls.
Hadjar will also become the 13th Red Bull Junior Team prospect to earn his F1 debut driving for Racing Bulls (formerly known as Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri and RB) when he hits the grid for the Australian GP. He is following stars such as Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon.
Daniel Ricciardo’s feedback at Racing Bulls stunned Isack Hadjar as their reserve driver
Other Formula 1 heroes like Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo have even passed through Racing Bulls over the years after penning their debuts with other outfits. Ricciardo made his F1 debut driving for HRT in the 2011 British Grand Prix before moving to Toro Rosso in 2012.
READ MORE: The best moments of Daniel Ricciardo’s career in Formula 1
Ricciardo also returned to Faenza in 2023 to replace Nyck de Vries mid-season at AlphaTauri and secured the seat full-time for the start of 2024. Yet the 35-year-old did not see out all of the year as Red Bull sacked Ricciardo after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix to put Lawson in.
Hadjar worked closely with Ricciardo during his time with the Faenza natives, then known as RB and now called Racing Bulls, last year in his role as a reserve driver for the junior Red Bull outfit. He also learned a lot from the Australian and was impressed by Ricciardo’s feedback.
“I have learned from him being at those races as a reserve [driver],” he told RacingNews365. “Looking at him operate at such a high level [and] listening to the feedback he provides, it’s just really impressive.”
Isack Hadjar must use what he learned from Daniel Ricciardo to understand an F1 car
Hadjar will now strive to use what he learned from Ricciardo as the 20-year-old starts his F1 career with Racing Bulls in Melbourne. Red Bull have promoted the Paris native into F1 after he missed out on the 2024 Formula 2 title to Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto by 22.5 points.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know
| Category | Daniel Ricciardo | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 2024 points | 12 | 22 |
| Grand Prix results | 9 | 9 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 6 | 12 |
| Grand Prix wins | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix poles | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 0 | 0 |
| Best finish | 8th | 7th |
| Retirements | 2 | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 3 | 7 |
| Sprint results | 2 | 1 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 2 | 1 |
| Sprint wins | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint poles | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint podiums | 0 | 0 |
But the Red Bull prospect still has a lot to understand, as Hadjar still does not ‘have an idea’ about how an F1 car should handle. So, the Faenza team will be relying on the driver whose skill took the shine off Ricciardo last season, with Yuki Tsunoda to lead Racing Bulls in 2025.
After being booted out of Racing Bulls by Red Bull with six rounds of the 2024 season left in September, Ricciardo considers himself retired from F1 also. The start of the 2025 campaign marks the second time an F1 season has started without the Aussie since his debut in 2011.
The Perth native only took a reserve driver role with Red Bull for the start of the 2023 term after McLaren paid Ricciardo £23.5m to terminate his contract. He would ultimately re-join the travelling circus at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix as De Vries failed to impress Red Bull.
