Isack Hadjar is the next driver to step into the crucible that is the second Red Bull seat, but he does so off the back of a strong rookie season.
Arriving in F1 after narrowly missing the Formula 2 title in 2024, he quickly established himself as one of the stars of the season – and the rookie of the year for most.
How Isack Hadjar impressed Racing Bulls boss
Inside his first season at the pinnacle of world motorsport, Isack Hadjar earned himself the nickname petit-Prost, or the ‘little Professor’.
Like his four-time world championship-winning countryman, Alain Prost, he proved himself to be studious and mindful, capable of introspection while demanding excellence from both himself and those around him.
That he stands only two centimetres taller than Prost allows another parallel.
“He really hit the ground running and surprised us,” admitted Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane in an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com.
“He was very smart. There was a big pre-season, it was one-and-a-half days testing, each driver, and he just spent his time learning, understanding the car. Didn’t hit any headline numbers, just got on with it.”
That early groundwork meant he was able to score Racing Bulls’ first points of the season with a fine eighth in Japan, and added another in Saudi Arabia two races later.
Once the F1 season reached Europe, his form improved along with the team’s, and he quickly became a force in the midfield to begin building his surging reputation.
That was solidified with a superb third at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Such were his performances that the inauspicious start to his F1 career, which saw him spin into retirement on the warmup lap in Australia, was quickly vanquished.
“The Australia thing was just an unfortunate thing,” dismissed Permane.
“Carlos [Sainz] did the same thing. Okay, he did it under Safety Car a couple of laps later, but it was, it was treacherous, and it was just that, in no way reflects where Isack was as a driver.”
That faux pas aside, Hadjar’s performances heaped pressure on his (slighty) more established teammate, Liam Lawson.
The New Zealander, rushed into the senior Red Bull drive after hardly more than a dozen races in F1, was parachuted back to Racing Bulls after the Chinese Grand Prix.
Down on morale and without a pre-season to get to grips with the VCARB02, Lawson battled through his first rounds with the team before finding his feet.
It was during that time that Hadjar made hay; banking consistently strong performances to wrack up 51 points by year end. It went a long way to helping Racing Bulls to sixth in the Constructors’ Championship, only the second time in the team’s 40-year history that it has finished so high.
While Lawson made a significant contribution to that feat, it was the rise of Hadjar that caught the headlines and left Permane searching for superlatives – both for the results, and how he went about achieving them.
So impressed was Red Bull management that Hadjar was given the nod to replace Tsunoda at the senior team next season.
It’s a strong endorsement of the qualities he displayed in his maiden season.
But even in that, Hadjar has demonstrated a deep understanding of what is needed of him, and how success there will be measured differently.
How Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson fared at their new teams in F1 2025
F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
“If anything, the goal is to accept that I’m going to be slower the first month,” he told selected media, including PlanetF1.com, shortly after being confirmed in the new role.
“I think that, if you go into that mindset, you accept already that it’s going to be very tough… looking at the data and seeing things you can’t achieve yet.
“It’s going to be very frustrating. But if you know, then you’re more prepared.
“Everyone thinks they’re special. Coming in like: ‘He’s a human, I’m gonna beat him,’” he added.
“And then you get stomped over. And then the snowball effect starts.
“Whereas, if you come in, you’re like: ‘I’m nowhere near…’
“We’re talking about the best driver on the grid. So the chance that I’m slow at the start of the year is very high.
“So I might as well accept it now and just work towards getting there.
“Of course, I’m hoping to be as fast as him. I’m hoping, but realistically, it’s very little chance.”
It’s a mindful approach, a rational and reasoned mentality to what has been described as the most difficult job in Formula 1.
But it’s wholly in-keeping with the rookie campaign overseen by Permane, where the sometimes-fiery Frenchman has taken a measured approach and seen his star rise.
“He’s been super impressive,” Permane said.
“One of his strengths is that he will always look to see what he can do better before anything else.
“Yes, he wants more out of the car. Yes, he demands more out of his engineers, out of the team, but the first place he looks is himself
“What can I do better? What did I not do good enough in that race, that qualifying session, that weekend, that I can now do better here?
“That’s a real strength in a driver.
“Quite often you’ll get drivers so the first thing they’ll do when it’s not going right is, must be the car,” he added.
“There’s positives to that as well, because some of them have this huge self-belief that it can’t be them, it must be [the car], and there’s no doubt that helps them as well, but I think it’s refreshing with Isack.
He added: “There’s no doubt. Isack is definitely a talent for the future.”
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