Formula 1 welcomes a handful of rookies to the grid in 2025 but none of them have had as little preparation as Racing Bulls’ new driver Isack Hadjar.
The F1 driver’s market moved quickly last year, meaning when the season ended, only one season remained open.
Sergio Perez lost his Red Bull seat after the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, meaning Liam Lawson earned a very fast promotion, leaving his Racing Bulls position empty.
Up stepped Formula 2 star Isack Hadjar, the latest driver from the Red Bull Junior Team to make the step up to F1.
Unlike Kimi Antonelli who has done thousands of kilometres of testing for Mercedes already or Oliver Bearman who now has three Grand Prix starts under his belt, Hadjar is far less experienced.
Red Bull weren’t overly impressed by Hadjar’s FP1 run at Silverstone last year, but handed his a chance in the aforementioned post-season test when the season ended.
Although not too much can be read into the timings from that test, Hadjar finished ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the other Red Bull that day, albeit on different tyres.
Alex Jacques commentated on Hadjar’s entire F2 career, and speaking to The F2 Show, explained how he can already see similarities between the Frenchman and one-time race winner Pierre Gasly.
Gasly had a similar upbringing through the Red Bull system and while his stint in the senior team was only brief, he’s gone on to have a very successful career in Formula 1.
Alex Jacques already sees similarities between Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly
Jacques was asked about the most ridiculous moments he had seen during 10 years of commentating on Formula 2 and answered: “There’s almost too much to pick from.
“This was why it was so joyous. It was elite motor racing on the Grand Prix weekend with some unbelievable, incomplete talents, but that was the charm of it.
“It was seeing a band before they were playing arenas with all of the flaws and all of the rawness.
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“You look at a Gasly season. Brilliant talent, just trying to iron out the creases.
“Could he do it in time to win the title? He could eventually. Someone like Isack Hadjar this year, very, very similar, I thought in that regard.
“Incredibly fast, could he find a way to improve the other attributes in time to win the title? It’s what makes it so compelling.”
Isack Hadjar can take inspiration from Pierre Gasly’s Formula 1 career
Gasly made his Formula 1 debut with Toro Rosso in 2017 having won the GP2 championship the year before, stepping into Daniil Kvyat’s car.
Although he didn’t score a point during his five-race cameo, he did enough to earn a permanent place on the grid the following year.
By 2019, Gasly had already earned what turned out to be a short-lived promotion to the Red Bull team, before being replaced by Alex Albon halfway through the campaign.
He returned to AlphaTauri the following year but he knew at this point that his prospects of racing the top team again were over.
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Hadjar will be well aware how precarious his position within the Red Bull hierarchy is even if he’s just earned his dream promotion as Gasly’s time with the team demonstrated.
Helmut Marko already has plans for Arvid Lindblad, and while Tsunoda’s long-term prospects with the team are fragile at best, Hadjar will know he could easily be replaced if he underperforms.
But Gasly offers Hadjar a beacon of hope, that Red Bull will offer him opportunities if he succeeds, and life in F1 exists outside of the team’s bubble.
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