Hadjar vows to be ‘spectacular’ on track as he previews debut F1 season at Racing Bulls

Isack Hadjar has set out his ambitions ahead of his debut F1 season, with the Racing Bulls rookie vowing to be “spectacular on track” during his maiden campaign in the sport.

Hadjar was promoted to the squad following a reshuffle that saw Liam Lawson fill the vacancy left by Sergio Perez at Red Bull, meaning that the Frenchman will partner with Yuki Tsunoda at the sister outfit in 2025.

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As he prepares to make the step up from Formula 2, Hadjar was quizzed at the F1 75 Live event in London on Tuesday about how he has been settling into his new environment so far, as well as reflecting on the difference in training required compared to F2.

“The preparation has been really, really good,” the 20-year-old explained. “Since the beginning of the year, I was in Qatar for my training camp with my new trainer and it’s going really well.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: Isack Hadjar of France and Visa Cash App Racing Bulls poses for a — Hadjar met fans on the red carpet at the F1 75 Live event in London ahead of his debut season in the sport

“I’m fit and ready for F1. Obviously it’s different abilities that you need to train compared to F2 – they’re both really physical in different ways, but I’m definitely ready.”

And when asked to share a bit of information about himself ahead of his debut in the sport, Hadjar voiced his intentions to perform strongly as he responded: “I’m someone who fought his way to F1 the hard way and [I’m] really excited about this challenge.

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“I’m really hungry, and I’ll give my absolute maximum and try to be spectacular on track.”

Hadjar was joined by team mate Yuki Tsunoda, Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer and Team Principal Laurent Mekies as he spoke to media at the event, and Mekies gave a further insight into the team’s decision to promote Hadjar following the announcement of the move in December.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 18: Laurent Mekies, Team Principal of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls speaks — Mekies says that promoting Hadjar to Racing Bulls in 2025 was a «natural part of the process»

“I think it was the most natural part of the process to get Isack in,” said Mekies. “He was very, very clearly the next one in line in terms of the Red Bull young driver programme.

“We were following him for quite a while already, and then we got a bit of time together in the final races of the season and the decision came pretty much… You [the media] knew about it at pretty much the time that it was made, but it was an easy one.”

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Hadjar – who narrowly missed out on the F2 title to Kick Sauber’s new signing Gabriel Bortoleto – added of the moment he found out about the promotion: “Officially, I found out after Abu Dhabi. When I stepped up to [being the] reserve [driver], I was just focused on trying to win the F2 title and learning in this new environment as much as possible.”

And when pushed on whether getting his opportunity in F1 made up for not winning the Formula 2 championship, Hadjar responded: “My goal is not to be an F2 champion, it’s to be F1 World Champion, so I’m fine.”