Liam Lawson at Red Bull and Isack Hadjar at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. In the last few hours the Milton Keynes team has announced the move to the “parent company” of the young New Zealand driver, who will be working for the Faenza team in the last part of the season. Lawson was preferred to Yuki Tsunoda and will replace Nico Perez. The Mexican has been somewhat disappointing in recent seasons at the helm of Red Bull.
After Lawson’s “promotion”, therefore, it is now Racing Bulls’ turn to announce the second driver, who will join Tsunoda in the next Formula 1 championship.
Twenty-year-old Isack Hadjar, a Frenchman and Algerian, drove for the Campos Racing team in F2, where he quickly established himself as one of the most promising young prospects, with important victories coming in classic Grands Prix such as Imola, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone.
Isack Hadjar will therefore follow in the footsteps of Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and is the 19th driver to be promoted to Formula 1 from the Red Bull Junior Program, which began in 2001.
“I am very excited to take on my new role at Visa Cash App Racing Bulls,” said the new arrival. “The journey from karting, through the single-seater ranks, to Formula One is what I’ve worked for all my life, it’s the dream. I feel like I’m entering a whole new universe, driving a much faster car and racing with the best drivers in the world. It will be a huge learning curve, but I’m ready to work hard and do the best I can for the team. I’m looking forward to working and learning from Yuki, I’ve always admired him, he attended the Red Bull Junior Program, like me, and we shared a similar path to F1. He has a lot of experience and it will be nice to learn from him.”
Great welcome from Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls: “We are thrilled to have Isack with us next year. He will bring a fresh new dynamic to the team alongside Yuki in 2025. His journey into motorsport has been nothing short of exceptional, he has shown remarkable growth, with a number of impressive results in the junior single-seater rankings. He has the talent and drive to compete at the highest level and we have full confidence that he will adapt quickly and make a significant impact. I think Isack and Yuki will make a great team. Yuki brings invaluable experience to the team, has demonstrated incredible resilience and maturity, which will be crucial for us as we strive to achieve all our goals and objectives in 2025.”
“First and foremost we must congratulate Liam on his move to Oracle Red Bull Racing,” recalled Peter Bayer, CEO of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. “As a sister team and as an incubator of Formula 1 talent, our strategic objective is to promote and nurture our drivers in preparation for the next step. This move is a testament to our long-standing commitment to developing the best young drivers in motorsport, as well as a proof of concept for the Red Bull Junior Program. Having a younger driver supports our mission to speak to younger audiences, so we can’t wait to bring new and existing fans on the journey with us.”
