There is one seat left on the Formula 1 grid ahead of the 2025 season after Liam Lawson was announced as a Red Bull driver.
Red Bull’s sister team RB are looking for a replacement for Lawson, and the Italian team are set to sign Isack Hadjar.
Despite being very quick, Dr Helmut Marko has urged Hadjar to keep calm in the car as he has a tendency to rant on the radio.
The Frenchman had a very successful junior career and finished this season’s Formula 2 championship in second place behind 2025 Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto.
Hadjar took the title battle to the final race in Abu Dhabi but suffered the misfortune of stalling on the grid, ending his title hopes.
He has also driven in FP1 sessions ahead of this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where he looked tentative behind the wheel. The Frenchman also drove the RB in Abu Dhabi and spun out on the track.
Despite his lack of confidence in an F1 car at times, there is one key reason why he is likely to drive for RB next year rather than Franco Colapinto.
Isack Hadjar has an advantage over Franco Colapinto as he is a Red Bull junior
Hadjar has been embedded within the Red Bull junior programme since 2022, which has helped him progress up the ladder and onto the verge of F1.
RB have a history of promoting from within, giving Red Bull juniors an opportunity and preparing them to drive for the main team.
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This is a significant advantage that Hadjar has over Colapinto despite the Argentine competing in nine races for Williams.
Fox Sports Argentina journalist Adrian Puente explained that Colapinto coming from outside the Red Bull programme gives Hadjar the upper hand.
He said: “This is a boy [Hadjar] who has three Formula 1 trials that added up to nothing, 874km [of testing] but no races. Franco has 5142 km since Abu Dhabi, when he first practised with Williams, passing through Silverstone until he started at Monza.
“We always said, Franco, you run, add kilometres and try not to break. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This boy [Hadjar] is starting from scratch but is one from the academy.
“You invested for five years of your own money; you put everything you had so this kid could get to Formula 1, which Franco doesn’t have in his favour. He is not from the Red Bull roots but from another side.”
Red Bull’s junior is a step ahead of Colapinto, but Hadjar failed to impress Anthony Davidson in FP1 at Abu Dhabi as he made an error at Turn 6.
Isack Hadjar has very little experience in Formula 1
Hadjar may be on the verge of stepping up to Formula 1 for 2025 after a superb junior career, but he has little experience at the highest level.
The Frenchman has competed in just two FP1 sessions at Silverstone and Abu Dhabi. These outings are a great step toward understanding the pressure of a race weekend, but each run is just one hour.
RB could be the perfect team for Hadjar to learn alongside Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, but Hadjar will be under immediate pressure.
The Red Bull programme has a lot of talent, such as Arvid Lindblad, who will race in Formula 2 next year. Frenchman Enzo Deligny is also part of the academy and won this season’s FRECA title.
