After RB announced that Liam Lawson will be replacing Daniel Ricciardo at the team from the 2024 US GP onwards, the reserve driver role for the two Red Bull-backed F1 teams had opened up. Now, it is being reported that the spot has been filled by their F2 prodigy, Isack Hadjar.
Before his promotion to F1, Lawson was the reserve driver for RB as well as Red Bull Racing. Sky Sports has reported that the team will promote Hadjar to that spot instead. And it couldn’t have been timed better with the French-Algerian driver celebrating his 20th birthday today.
NEWS | Isack Hadjar is the new Red Bull Racing reserve driver, the team confirmed to Feeder Series!
The 19-year-old, who currently sits second in the Formula 2 standings with four victories, is the successor of Liam Lawson.
Red Bull Content Pool#F1 #F2 pic.twitter.com/PPJzsBpsD7
— Feeder Series (@feeder_series) September 27, 2024
Hadjar himself has enjoyed a breakthrough season in F2 this year. The 20-year-old is currently locked in battle with Brazilian, Gabriel Bortoleto for the title. Hadjar currently sits second in the driver’s standings with 165 points to his name. On the other hand, Bortoleto has a four-and-a-half point advantage with two more rounds to go.
Hadjar is yet to win an open-wheel racing series but has enjoyed much success otherwise. He finished the 2020 French F4 season in third and the 2022 FRECA season in third as well. His stint in F2 with Campos sees him the closest he’s ever been to winning an FIA-sanctioned competition. He’s won four races this season at Melbourne, Imola, Silverstone, and Spa-Francorchamps.
In terms of F1 machinery, the 20-year-old has considerable time behind the wheel. In 2023, Hadjar drove in FP1 for the Mexico City GP for AlphaTauri (now RB) and had a test for the Bulls in Abu Dhabi. This year, he was strapped behind the wheel of the RB20 during FP1 for the British GP.
