Isack Hadjar’s dad has thanked Anthony Hamilton, the father of Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, for his “truly exceptional gesture” at the Australian Grand Prix.

Hadjar has emerged as one of the stars of the F1 2025 season, scoring points at three of the nine races held so far.

Isack Hadjar’s father praises ‘truly exceptional’ Anthony Hamilton ‘gesture’

The French-Algerian claimed a third consecutive top-10 finish at last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished a fine seventh place.

That result came seven days after Hadjar claimed a career-best result of sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he came home as the best of the rest behind the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Hadjar’s rise to prominence came after he suffered heartbreak at the opening round of the season in Australia, where he failed to start after crashing out on the formation lap in wet conditions.

Isack Hadjar vs Liam Lawson: Racing Bulls head-to-head scores for F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

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The 20-year-old was seen crying in the immediate aftermath of the incident, with Hadjar consoled by Mr Hamilton as he returned to the paddock in Albert Park.

Stefano Domenicali, the Formula 1 president and chief executive, was also seen taking the time to comfort Hadjar.

Mr Hamilton’s decision to seek out Hadjar came on the day his son made his first appearance for Ferrari following his high-profile move from Mercedes.

Speaking to the Times, Hadjar’s father Yassine, a quantum physicist who works as a senior researcher at the University of Technology of Troyes, revealed that he missed his son’s off in Melbourne having only just arrived at the circuit at the time of the incident.

And he expressed his gratitude to Mr Hamilton for taking the time to console the Racing Bulls debutant.

Mr Hadjar said: “I wasn’t there when he went off. I had only just arrived with [Isack’s] mum.

“That he did that, when he didn’t have to: I found it a truly exceptional gesture.”

Mr Hamilton and Hadjar were reunited on the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix, where the pair were seeing embracing ahead of the race.

More on Isack Hadjar and Racing Bulls from PlanetF1.com

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Hadjar’s impressive start to the season has seen him linked with a promotion to a Red Bull seat with Yuki Tsunoda, who started the season as his Racing Bulls team-mate, coming under mounting scrutiny after replacing Liam Lawson.

As reported by PlanetF1.com on Friday, Hadjar and Lawson are both in contention to make a temporary step up to a Red Bull seat if Max Verstappen triggers a one-race ban.

Reports elsewhere had claimed that Ayumu Iwasa, the Honda-backed Japanese F2 driver, would be chosen to race for Red Bull in the event of Verstappen being banned.

However, PlanetF1.com understands that Hadjar and Lawson would be considered the leading contenders for a call up in Verstappen’s absence, with the pair given an equal opportunity to stake their claim for a step up.

Verstappen has found himself dangerously close to a race ban after being given three penalty points for an incident with Mercedes driver George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix, increasing his tally to 11 penalty points in total for the current 12-month period.

Drivers trigger an automatic one-race ban if they accumulate 12 points inside a 12-month window, with former Haas driver Kevin Magnussen the first to be banned under the system – originally introduced in 2014 – last year.

Verstappen’s penalty point tally is not scheduled to reduce until June 30, when the two points he gained for causing a collision with Norris at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix are wiped from his record.

It means Verstappen must carefully navigate the next two race weekends in Canada and Austria without adding to his score.

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