Martin Brundle believes one of Formula 1’s six rookie drivers on the 2025 grid ‘clearly’ has the speed to succeed, yet also thinks they must now show more levelheadedness.
F1 will have an array of new full-time drivers when the 2025 campaign kicks off on March 16 at the Australian Grand Prix. Andrea Kimi Antonelli with Mercedes, Isack Hadjar at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and Gabriel Bortoleto for Sauber will all earn their F1 debuts in Melbourne.
New Alpine ace Jack Doohan already debuted with the Enstone outfit at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Liam Lawson, who has moved up to Red Bull, and Oliver Bearman, who will drive for Haas, have also already started enough Grands Prix to lose the FIA’s official F1 rookie tag.
Bearman thinks it’s harsh he’s not listed as a rookie after starting three Grands Prix over the 2024 season, with cameos for Ferrari plus Haas. Lawson has made 11 Grand Prix starts yet with his five stand-in races in 2023 plus six in 2024 for RB, who are now called Racing Bulls.
Martin Brundle urges Isack Hadjar to ‘keep a cooler head’ as an F1 rookie for Racing Bulls
Hadjar had to wait until after the 2024 Formula 1 season concluded to learn that he would be replacing Lawson for Racing Bulls, with the Kiwi replacing Sergio Perez for the main Red Bull squad. Also, Red Bull only gave Hadjar a one-year Racing Bulls contract for the 2025 season.
The 20-year-old will now become the 17th Red Bull Junior Team product to graduate into F1 and the 13th to do so with Racing Bulls when Hadjar debuts in the Australian Grand Prix. He joins the travelling circus after losing out on the F2 title to Bortoleto by 22.5 points last year.
READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls 2025 F1 driver Isack Hadjar? Everything you need to know
| DRIVER | RACES | WINS | POLES | PODIUMS | POINTS |
| Jack Doohan | 59 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 303 |
| Isack Hadjar | 54 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 247 |
| Oliver Bearman | 50 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 205 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 28 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 214.5 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 26 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 113 |
Now, though, Brundle thinks Hadjar needs to ‘keep a cooler head’ if he is to stick around for Racing Bulls in F1. The Paris native showed he had a very short fuse whilst in Formula 2 with Hadjar regularly quick to voice his anger over his team’s radio whenever things went astray.
“Hadjar [has] got to keep a cooler head than he’s shown to date,” Brundle said on Sky Sports News (05/03, 13:43). “But he’s clearly got the speed.”
Helmut Marko has told Isack Hadjar to ‘keep his emotions under control’
Hadjar’s fiery radio outbursts have already caused some alarm ahead of his Formula 1 debut for Racing Bulls at the Australian GP. The Frenchman is expected to stun fans unfamiliar with his fury, which is often on another level to what his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda has shown.
Brundle is also not the first person to tell the 20-year-old to calm down. Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has told Hadjar to ‘keep his emotions under control’, and pointed out his troublesome comments after losing the 2024 F2 Monaco Feature Race to Zak O’Sullivan.
“Isack is fast but he has to keep his emotions under control,” Marko told the Inside Line F1 Podcast in December. “One example is Monte Carlo.
“I forget the driver who, through the safety car, all of a sudden was in front of him and he was moaning and complaining and so on. The guy had cold tyres, he should have tried to attack him instead of being all over the place on the radio.”
