Isack Hadjar has revealed he had “serious doubts” about securing a Racing Bulls drive for the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.
The 2024 Formula 2 vice-champion was made to wait until the post-season to learn his fate as Red Bull deliberated the future of its F1 driving roster.
When the Milton Keynes-based outfit pulled the plug on Sergio Perez in December, replacing him with Liam Lawson, a spot suddenly opened up at the Faenza-based Racing Bulls outfit, but Hadjar wasn’t the only option available.
The surprise package that was Franco Colapinto presented an alternate option after the Argentine impressed during a nine-race stint with Williams, but Racing Bulls stuck to its trusted method of promoting Red Bull juniors and Hadjar got the contract offer.
Amid that speculation, Hadjar admitted that it he seriously questioned whether his F1 opportunity would come.
“There were moments when I had serious doubts, yes,” he told L’Equipe.
“But that’s in the past now. Before, when I drove an F1 car, I had to return it. Now, it’s my car.”
Looking ahead to his rookie season, Hadjar said “Yes, I’m stressed, but I know what I’ve gotten myself into.
“Of course, I feel a lot of pressure, and at the same time, I can’t wait to get behind the wheel. I feel both excitement and fear.”
Hadjar sets ambitious target for F1 debut
Hadjar’s Grand Prix debut will come at Albert Park, Melbourne as Australia returns to hosting the F1 curtain raiser on March 14-16.
Despite his limited experience of practice and test sessions, Hadjar is setting an ambitious target for his first race.
“I want to go straight into Q3 in qualifying and score points in the race,” he said.
“I think this track has always been kind to our team’s cars.”
In order to achieve this Hadjar will need to learn first as he admits there’s a lot missing from his F1 knowledge base.
“Technically, I’m missing a lot of data,” he said.
“For example, I’ve never driven with 110 kg of fuel in the tank. I don’t know what that feels like. It’s a small thing, but I need to learn.
“I need experience. I’m a rookie—let’s not forget that. I just want to be as prepared as possible for Melbourne.”
Hadjar isn’t alone as he joins several rookies on the F1 grid including Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Alpine’s Jack Doohan (who made his GP debut at Abu Dhabi in December), Sauber’s reigning F2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
One could argue that even Lawson is still a ‘rookie’ given he has only had 11 GP starts so Hadjar can at least rest easy in the knowledge he’s not the only one who has things to learn through the 2025 F1 season.
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