“Entering Such a World Is a Bit Scary”: Isack Hadjar Opens Up on His F1 Debut Challenges

In the days following the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull announced Sergio Perez’s departure and promoted Liam Lawson to his seat. This move created an opening at the sister team — RB —, which the Austrian outfit quickly filled by handing the opportunity to Isack Hadjar.

While this marks a milestone for the Red Bull Junior driver, with the 2025 season just weeks away, Hadjar admits to feeling slightly intimidated by the challenge ahead. He recently spoke about his preparations and reflected on how a lack of time on the track could be a decisive factor that hampers his performance.

“I know that my experience in Formula 1 is limited. There is a very high level on the grid. In the end, I know myself,” the 20-year-old said to Canal +.

Isack Hadjar in an interview with Canal Plus France, said: “I know that my experience in Formula 1 is limited. There is a very high level on the grid. In the end, I know myself. I know that when I get in the car, I will want to beat Tsunoda.”

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Hadjar is aware of how good his teammate Yuki Tsunoda is, and although the Japanese driver is expected to have the upper hand, the French-Algerian won’t give up. He knows what he has to do. “I know that when I get in the car, I will want to beat Tsunoda.” 

Hadjar will be one of six full-time rookies on the 2025 grid, joining Lawson, Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, and Gabriel Bortoleto. Aside from Bortoleto and Hadjar, nearly all the others have had a decent amount of experience driving F1 machinery. Hadjar, for instance, has only been part of two FP1 sessions.

“Entering such a world is a bit scary, but I will keep my desire to succeed, to win and I also want to channel my emotions”, he added to describe the challenges he faces ahead. Hadjar then referenced the questions that came up about his frequent outbursts from when he was in F2.

He knows that having a similar attitude while driving under the Red Bull umbrella will not be tolerated. “I know they don’t like the radio button too much”, he added.

Hadjar could learn from Tsunoda

Hadjar could take a leaf out of Tsunoda’s notebook for this, as the Japanese driver also, in his early days, often used to be in hot water with the Red Bull bosses for his habit of swearing on the radio. Over the years, Tsunoda improved his mindset and became much calmer.

However, in the long run, his past worked against him, as it was one of the factors reportedly considered by the Red Bull chiefs when promoting Lawson to the main team ahead of him in December.

Hadjar, whose aim would also be to land a Red Bull seat for himself, would be looking to avoid being in a similar situation. For now, however, his complete focus would be on hitting the ground running this season.