In the game of musical chairs, the big winner is Isack Hadjar. The young French driver, aged 20, second in the Formula 2 championship this season, will join the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB) team in 2025, the little sister of the Red Bull team, VCARB announced on Friday 20 December. He will take the seat of Liam Lawson, promoted to Red Bull to replace Sergio Perez, ousted.
The struggle to start in karting
Son of a former amateur karting driver, Isack Hadjar sat behind a wheel for the first time at the age of six, at Porte de la Chapelle, in Paris. However, he assures, on the Red Bull website, that he does not have very good memories of it due to limited financial means. “In karting, I have never been in the right conditions. It was always my father who did my mechanics, for a very long time, while other drivers had private teams. I was never able to do the entire calendar, having the best engine, etc. I always had to compensate, it was frustrating when I came back from a race, the next day I had to go back to school while some guys went to ride, test, because ‘They were homeschooled. I didn’t have the right to this route”he says.
Spotted by Red Bull and in the fold of the Austrian team since 2021
After complicated years in karting, the destiny of Isack Hadjar changed one day in May 2021. Brilliant winner in Monaco in FRECA (Regional Formula), he caught the eye of Dr. Helmut Marko, head of the young drivers sector of Red Bull, who decides to give him a chance. The struggle is over, the Frenchman enters another dimension within the team that trained Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly.
For his only season in Formula 3 in 2022, he finished fourth in the drivers’ standings and was named rookie of the year. He moves up to F2 and has a complicated first season (14th in the general classification), but perseveres and plays for the title until the last race in 2024. Proof of the confidence placed in him by Red Bull, the Frenchman has already driven four times in F1 in free practice, including twice this season in Max Verstappen’s car.
Nicknamed “Little Prost” by Helmut Marko
Quite sanguine on the radio during his races and frank in front of the microphones, Isack Hadjar also has a thirst for knowledge which earned him the nickname “Little Prost” by Helmut Marko, in reference to the “Professor” side of Alain Prost, who wanted to know everything about his car. Reserve driver for Visa Cash App RB in 2024, he was able to closely observe F1 and analyze their data.
He also got into the habit of watching videos on board stars of the discipline to analyze their driving tips. “He clearly has a good head. He often comes to get the information. And that’s what we ask of them”says Guillaume Rocquelin, head of the Red Bull Driver Academy, The Team.
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