Isack Hadjar recalls Red Bull Junior Team moment: “I couldn’t believe it”. Isack Hadjar reflects on the emotional moment he was offered a place in the Red Bull Junior Team.

The French driver has revisited the emotions he experienced when he received an offer from Helmut Marko during a particularly difficult phase of his racing career.

The Red Bull debut

The first three races of the 2026 Formula 1 season have ended with unexpected results for Red Bull, who have been struggling with competitiveness issues, as has four-time world champion Max Verstappen. It has been a delicate moment for the Milton Keynes-based team, where Isack Hadjar made his debut this year.

Despite the difficult circumstances, Hadjar has managed to outperform the four-time world champion in the standings, something no driver had previously achieved in an internal comparison with Verstappen. This comes in only his second year in Formula 1, following his 2025 season with Racing Bulls.

Joining the Junior Team

However, the Franco-Algerian driver’s path through the junior categories was far from easy, with only a limited number of victories across French F4 and the United Arab Emirates championships.

Despite this, in 2021 Hadjar received an offer from Helmut Marko to join the Red Bull Junior Team, a moment that deeply moved both him and his parents.

“It was a period in my career when I was uncertain. I didn’t have a clear direction, I didn’t know what I would do,” he told the official Formula 1 website. “Even financing the whole year was difficult, so we didn’t even know if we would be able to finish it. It was a complicated situation.”

“So, the relief came after signing with Red Bull. It was something they took a while to accept. Even when I had the helmet and the Red Bull colours, I still couldn’t believe it.”

Hadjar officially joined the Red Bull academy in 2022, but his first contact with Marko came in 2021, the same year he won the Monaco race in the Formula Regional European Championship.

“On the same day as the victory I had a meeting with him in the evening and I was obviously very impressed,” he recalled. “For me, Formula 1 has never been unreachable, it has always been my goal, but it is still the pinnacle. And meeting these people in person, speaking with him, and hearing: ‘Yes, I’m sending you a contract. You sign or you don’t sign, okay?’ It was all very direct. It was really impressive, but above all, it was a relief.”