Isack Hadjar will start next year as an F1 starter at Racing Bulls. The French driver spoke to Canal+ during the FFSA awards evening, in particular about what being in Formula 1 represents, and the extent of the responsibility of a driver at the highest level .
“I haven't realized it yet, I haven't taken the time to realize it. It seems normal because there has always been the goal of getting to F1. What I want to do in F1 is very different, but Getting there is a consecration because I will be judged on my performance. I am truly in a professional setting.” Hadjar said.
“I measure it a little, especially by going to the factory and seeing the number of people who work for two guys, for two cars, at 20 years old… it's a blow, in a good way, but it shows that you don't just have to be strong on the track, you have to know how to be a leader and galvanize the troops”
After having completed several free sessions, Hadjar will compete in full weekends, and he is impatient to rediscover this feeling: “Now I'm going to do EL2, EL3, qualifying, wow! It's huge, I remember my first EL1 in Mexico, it was the best hour of my life.”
“I told myself that I would have liked to stay for FP2, but I had to work to earn it. I feel lucky, and it's real. I think I will perform in the pre-season tests in Bahrain, I will share the track with [Fernando] Alonso, [Lewis] Hamilton, with Max [Verstappen] !”
The 2024 F2 vice-champion recognizes that the step to start in the premier category is big, and he admits to being impressed: “It's impressive. The fact that it's difficult to see the big picture shows how big it is.”
“And I'm afraid, I know that the experience in F1 is limited, and the field is very high. But once I get in the car, Tsunoda I'm going to want to hit him! That's how it is , in F1 we don't all have the same car so that's the only objective I have, but entering a world like that is a bit scary.”
Asked what worries him most about getting off to a good start, he explains what he thinks is the most difficult in Formula 1: “I think it will be the demands that there are in general, and knowing how to put energy into the essentials, to start my weekend fresh and in good shape.”
“But I am realistic, I know that it will be difficult during the first races and I must not let myself be discouraged, because if I am behind my teammate in performance I will have to keep my head high and work. I anticipate it, I am As we know, it's December and the preparation begins now.”
Hadjar already promises to have the same appetite for success, but also plans to be less sanguine: “I'm going to keep my anger, my desire to succeed, to win. And channel my emotions, I know which team I fell into, the radio button they don't like, so we'll have to manage that. “
His debut will be in Melbourne, and he is delighted: “It's a track that really affects me a lot, because I had a period of a year and a half without a podium in F3 in my second year in F2. And that's where there is It clicked so doing my first F1 race there makes me happy.”
