Isack Hadjar will become the 10th product of the Red Bull Junior Team to graduate to Formula 1 when the Frenchman debuts for Racing Bulls at the Australian Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old will follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel, Alex Albon, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson when Hadjar lines up on the grid in Melbourne for the Faenza outfit. It will even be only the fifth time Hadjar has appeared in an F1 race weekend session.
Thus far, Hadjar’s only times featuring in an F1 race weekend session came in Free Practice 1 outings for Red Bull and Racing Bulls to comply with Formula 1 obliging teams to put rookies in their cars twice a season. He drove a Red Bull in FP1 in Britain plus Abu Dhabi last season.
Isack Hadjar looking forward to racing new Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton the most
Yet four-time F1 champion Verstappen and Red Bull are not who Hadjar is looking forward to racing against the most ahead of debuting for their sister squad Racing Bulls. Instead, Hadjar cannot wait to share a track with Lewis Hamilton, especially now the Briton is a Ferrari driver.
Hadjar has cited sharing a circuit with Hamilton in a Ferrari as one of the ‘coolest’ things the Paris native will experience when he graduates from Formula 2 to F1 this term. The 2024 F2 championship runner-up is also looking forward to racing in his maiden Japanese Grand Prix.
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Hadjar told RACER: “Honestly, racing in Japan, that’s going to be the coolest thing. And being on track with Lewis in a Ferrari is cool, as well!”
Isack Hadjar says Lewis Hamilton is the ‘GOAT’ in Formula 1
While sharing a circuit with Hamilton stands out to Hadjar as one of the ‘coolest’ things he is due to experience as a Formula 1 driver – picking the seven-time champion over Verstappen or the team he owes his spot on the grid to, Red Bull – the Frenchman must focus on results.
Despite him getting the nod to join Yuki Tsunoda at Racing Bulls as Lawson replaced Sergio Perez at Red Bull, a place on the 2025 Formula 1 grid would not have been his if not for the Mexican’s demise. Christian Horner did not plan to promote Hadjar to F1 for the 2025 term.
His place might even become at risk very soon as Red Bull could look to replace Hadjar with Arvid Lindblad, with the 17-year-old sensation highly rated at Racing Bulls’ parent team. So, while Hadjar idolises the ‘GOAT’ Hamilton, the 2025 rookie cannot let it distract his displays.
