Being a rookie on the 2025 F1 grid meant that Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar had a busy day at the office today during the 2025 Pre-season test in Bahrain. The French-Algerian racing ace put in 94 laps setting a best lap time good enough for P10.
With virtually no experience behind the wheel of an F1 car, it was crucial for Hadjar to clock in the laps to prepare himself for a grueling 24-race calendar ahead of him this season. At the end of the day, though, he outpaced his more experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, who finished P12 with 46 laps under his belt.
Despite this, the 20-year-old revealed that he was focused only on improving himself. “We identified areas where I still have things to learn but I’m quite happy with my afternoon in general and I look forward to continuing that process tomorrow,” he explained as quoted on X (formerly Twitter).
Hadjar may have flown under the radar among the popular 2025 rookies kike Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto, the French-Algerian youngster has a lot of hidden potential, says Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
While Marko claimed that Hadjar can tend to be a bit impulsive, he backed the 20-year-old’s talent to give Tsunoda a tough fight at RB in 2025. “Isack (Hadjar) is a very fast driver but also very impulsive, which could make the duel with Yuki within the team interesting”.
Isack Hadjar: “Another good day. I was very happy with my race simulation as my lap times were very consistent while running three different tyre compounds.”
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— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) February 27, 2025
Hadjar hasn’t had the privilege of racking in countless miles in testing as his fellow rookie, Antonelli. In fact, the Italian driver will enter the 2025 grid as the ‘most experienced rookie’ in the sport’s history. Mercedes ensured that he completed a staggering 29.5 race distances in TPC and TCC tests.
That said, Hadjar putting in 170 laps in two days at the Bahrain test so far has been a commendable effort. Naturally, the RB driver has had to put in the hours at the Sakhir International Circuit to get up to speed with current F1 machinery.
Still, the 20-year-old needs to prove that he can extract pace from the car and RB could look to test Hadjar on the same on the final day of the pre-season test.
Alan Permane breaks down Hadjar’s run plan for RB
RB’s Sporting Director, Alan Permane broke down Hadjar’s run plan for the Faenza-based team as he took to the wheel today. The French-Algerian driver took the reins of the VCARB-02 in the afternoon session, completing a race simulation program.
“In the afternoon, Isack completed a full race distance with pit stops, running a two-stop simulation,” revealed Permane.
Alan Permane [RB]: “Another good day, making progress with both drivers. Of course, the rain affected the morning session a little bit and that held the programme up for Yuki, but we were still able to work through a range of set-up options, making good steps forward….”
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— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) February 27, 2025
Hadjar got hands-on experience of tire management through this program, that too, in relevant race conditions during evening time in Bahrain. The team also made him experience the differences between the various dry compound tires of Pirelli — something that will be crucial to his adaptation.
Permane explained that Hadjar’s run plan was as much about gaining insights and data about their car as it was to prepare the 20-year-old prodigy for the season-opener in Melbourne, next month.
