Isack Hadjar is one of this season’s biggest surprises, quickly becoming the leading driver at Racing Bulls. After nine races, the Frenchman sits ninth in the drivers’ standings, making him next in line for a Red Bull seat. FormulaPassion met the Faenza team’s young talent during the recent Imola Grand Prix, on the eve of a triple-header in which he scored points in all three rounds. In this interview, Isack reflects on his journey to Formula 1 and explains why, despite the help of simulators, debuts remain a major challenge for rookies.
The struggles at the beginning
Like many of his peers, Hadjar traces his passion for motorsport back to childhood. The movie Cars had a major impact on him—as it did on his teammate—but it wasn’t the only influence. “My father used to watch Formula 1, it was always in the background,” he explains. That led to his desire to race: “My best memories are from my first two years in karts. Then I moved on to national championships, and it got harder because there were kids racing every day and even skipping school for it. You couldn’t compete with them—it was frustrating. Honestly, my karting career wasn’t easy.”
Some drivers are the result of a career entirely focused on racing, almost obsessively so, but that wasn’t Hadjar’s path: “My parents would never have allowed me to skip school. It would also have been too expensive.” Even without the same opportunities as his peers, Isack managed to stand out—until one life-changing phone call came: “It happened when I won in Monte Carlo [in Formula Regional]. Helmut Marko called me that same day.”
The Formula 1 debut
Through the Red Bull Junior Team, Isack Hadjar achieved his dream of reaching the top of motorsport—but quickly discovered the difficulties involved: “The jump from Formula 3 to Formula 2 is natural, but when you get to Formula 1, it’s like making three steps at once. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but in the end, you have to adapt, and that’s what I did. The first time you drive a Formula 1 car is shocking—it’s really fast.” Comments are often made about how easier it is now for rookies thanks to intensive simulator training, but Hadjar strongly disagrees with that perception.
“It’s nonsense,” he says. “That’s not true—especially for drivers like me who haven’t had many opportunities for private testing. The simulator helps, but it’s still virtual. We’re no longer in an era where testing is allowed—those are very limited. I don’t agree with that view, especially considering these are the fastest Formula 1 cars ever. It’s not easy.”
Just a few months into his debut, Isack is already noticing improvements: “I’d say I’ve made a step forward in extracting the most from the car in qualifying, though the base speed was there from day one. Now I’m working behind the scenes on finer details with my engineers to better understand the car.” One thing that surprised him the most was how open the team was to his feedback: “I expected to have less freedom in Formula 1, that they’d just tell me what to do. I didn’t think I’d be listened to this much. It’s nice to feel so valued.”
The Melbourne weekend
Hadjar is enjoying his place in the top 10 of the world standings, something he’s very proud of—especially when thinking back to the tough debut in Melbourne. “It went exactly as planned—I crashed on the formation lap,” he jokes. “I think the weekend was going well, I was adapting to the car, I was competitive, and nearly made it into Q3 on my first try. As for the crash… I lost the car in my first race, but someone else made a mistake in their 100th race. What’s worse? I debuted in tricky conditions and went over a white line with no grip. It happens.”
The Frenchman showed great resilience and the ability to bounce back—qualities he developed over the years: “My career has always been chaotic. My path to Formula 1 wasn’t linear. It was a tough blow, but I’ve been through worse. My first season in Formula 2, for example, was a disaster.” After his crash in Australia, Helmut Marko made some harsh comments, but Hadjar describes him differently: “He’s not strict. No one’s tougher on me than my parents—or myself. I have a good relationship with him.”
Isack Hadjar instead finds the comments from other people in the paddock more difficult to handle: “To be honest, I don’t like the paddock environment. I prefer being in the car. Everything else drains so much energy—but it’s part of the job. In this paddock, everyone is ready to eat you alive the moment you admit you’re struggling. That’s why I try not to waste too much energy on it.”
The test with Red Bull
Isack Hadjar feels at ease with Racing Bulls but can’t comment much on the differences with Red Bull, even though he did test the RB20 in 2024: “Unfortunately, I drove it in Abu Dhabi, which to me is a very boring track. There are no fast corners, just medium- and low-speed ones. It’s not a challenging circuit. Plus, it was my very first day ever in Formula 1. Everyone says the Red Bull is hard to drive, but coming from Formula 2 it felt easy to me because I was used to a much slower car. I hit the track and it felt amazing. I’d be curious to try it again now that I’m at a different level. But making a comparison is hard.”
He clearly hopes to try it on a more exciting track: “For me, the beauty of a track lies in its flow. Suzuka is incredible—same with Monaco. I’d say they’re my favorites. Some tracks feel slow in Formula 2, but once you drive them in a Formula 1 car, it’s a whole different story. The 9-10 chicane in Melbourne, for example, is insane. But if I had to choose one, I’d say Suzuka.”
Between Senna and Ali
Japan is also the country of one of Isack Hadjar’s childhood heroes. “Ayrton Senna,” he reveals. Even though Senna had already passed away 10 years before Hadjar was born: “When you’re a kid, you’re fascinated by things that don’t even exist—like superheroes. Senna wasn’t around anymore, but there were still videos and documentaries. That was enough to make me fall in love with the character.”
That also explains his admiration for another sporting legend: “Muhammad Ali. I like boxing, martial arts, and combat sports in general. Before racing, I practiced judo for nine years. I stopped when karting started getting serious. I loved racing too much—otherwise I’d have definitely kept doing judo. But in my mind, racing was always the top priority.”
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