Sergio Perez’s failure to match Red Bull’s expectations in 2024 left a hole in their driver lineup, pushing the team to make changes both in their own and their sister team RB’s lineups. Liam Lawson came up to Red Bull, despite his nascent experience in F1 with RB, which in turn made way for Isack Hadjar’s promotion to F1.
If it wasn’t for Lawson, there was little chance of Hadjar forcing his way into the F1 grid in 2025. Josh Suttill of The Race also highlighted this recently. “You could argue that Red Bull only promoted Isack Hadjar because it needed Liam Lawson in a senior team,” he said in a recent YouTube video.
The deliberation over Perez’s seat and his potential replacement went on for months. This also led to Daniel Ricciardo’s exit, paving the way for Lawson to join RB. While the Kiwi was vying for a permanent spot at Red Bull, the team was exploring other options to fill his position. It was during this time that Franco Colapinto’s name began to gain traction as a potential candidate.
Substituting for Logan Sargeant at Williams, Colapinto had impressed many in the paddock with his points-scoring finishes in Azerbaijan and Austin. It piqued the interest of many teams in the F1 paddock and Red Bull was reportedly one of them.
Red Bull ✅
Sauber ✅
Alpine…✅Lots of teams have shown an interest in acquiring Franco Colapinto – including one that’s long since had two drivers signed up for 2025
Full article ➡️ https://t.co/iR1aZo8AEg pic.twitter.com/FsqSSQ7kmI
— The Race (@wearetherace) November 7, 2024
Christian Horner and Oliver Mintzlaff — Red Bull’s Managing Director — held some ‘not-so-secret’ meetings in the Williams’ motorhome at Interlagos with James Vowles. However, this was when Colapinto’s form started faltering, and he began to show cracks, deteriorating his image as a reliable driver.
Suttill highlighted how Red Bull’s waning interest in the Argentine driver left them with the sole option of promoting Hadjar. There were also reports that Williams had put a hefty release clause amount in Colapinto’s contract, which pushed those interested in him away.
Naturally, even for a top team like Red Bull, $20 million was a significant investment for a young driver who could be unpredictable and potentially a poor fit for their sister team. Instead, Red Bull opted for a safer option in Hadjar.
Can Hadjar survive in F1?
The French-Algerian driver did a superb job in F2 last year, finishing runner-up to Champion Gabriel Bortoleto. If it wasn’t for his stalled start at the feature race in Abu Dhabi, Hadjar could have had a fair shot at beating Bortoleto.
Regardless, he earned a lot of plaudits, and the top bosses of Red Bull, including Helmut Marko, felt that he did enough to secure a full-time RB seat.
He was expecting a promotion to the pinnacle of motorsport for 2025 but wasn’t sure if he may actually get it. This was perhaps due to the reports of his testing results with Red Bull being far from satisfactory.
The 20-year-old will be under pressure to prove his mettle in F1 as soon as the 2025 season gets underway. Being part of the Red Bull stable, he won’t have much time and scope to take a season of learning and start delivering results from year two.
On top of that, he has a tough competitor in his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, who will be desperate to prove his case after Red Bull snubbed him to promote Lawson. Marko does feel that Hadjar could have “interesting” duels with the Japanese driver. However, the Austrian is the brutal individual who may hand the pink slip to Hadjar, if he fails to deliver.
