Isack Hadjar
Isack Alexandre Hadjar is a French and Algerian racing driver who is contracted to compete under the French flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing.
Born and raised in Paris to an Algerian family, Hadjar began competitive kart racing aged seven. After debuting in sportscar racing at the Ginetta Junior Winter Series, Hadjar graduated to junior formulae in 2019. He finished third in the 2020 French F4 Championship with the FFSA Academy, before progressing to the Formula Regional European Championship in 2021, achieving multiple victories as he finished fifth in his rookie season. He then entered Formula Regional Asian and FIA Formula 3 in 2022 with Hitech, placing third in the former and achieving multiple wins in both. Hadjar graduated to FIA Formula 2 in, finishing runner-up to Gabriel Bortoleto the following season with Campos; his successes in Formula 2 saw him nicknamed "le Petit Prost" in French media.
A member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2022, Hadjar signed for Racing Bulls in, making his Formula One debut at the, where he crashed on the formation lap. He scored several points finishes across his rookie season, including his maiden podium at the. Hadjar is set to be promoted to the senior Red Bull team in alongside Max Verstappen.
Early and personal life
Isack Alexandre Hadjar was born on 28 September 2004 in Paris, France, to an Algerian family of physicians and physicists. His father, Yassine Hadjar, is a researcher in quantum mechanics and also served as his kart mechanic. He holds dual Algerian and French citizenship.Hadjar initially grew fond of motorsport after watching the Pixar animated movie Cars. His parents bought him a go-kart when he was seven, a year after he started watching Formula One. He also contested boxing and judo at a young age.
Junior racing career
Karting (2012–2018)
Hadjar started competitive kart racing in 2012. After initially competing in national championships, Hadjar progressed to the international scene in 2017. Hadjar competed in the 2018 Karting World Championship and finished 22nd.Formula 4 (2019–2020)
2019
In 2019, Hadjar made his single seater debut in the French F4 Championship. Despite struggling to push down fully on the car's pedals owing to his low height at the start of the season, Hadjar was able to achieve his first single-seater win at Spa during the third round. Hadjar earned another podium at the Circuit de Lédenon, with a second place in the final race. The final three rounds of the season, were hampered by three retirements, but he still managed to score a decent haul of points to finish seventh in the standings, claiming second in the junior class to Victor Bernier.2020
Hadjar raced in two weekends of the F4 UAE Championship during the winter of 2020 with 3Y Technology. He had a highest finish of fourth place during the final round. Overall, he scored 56 points and placed eleventh in the championship.Hadjar then once again drove in the French F4 Championship. Scoring a podium on debut, Hadjar scored regular rostrums in the first half of the season but did not win. However in the penultimate round in Paul Ricard, Hadjar scored a pole position and held off Ayumu Iwasa to win his first race of the year. Hadjar would also win the third race of the round after another battle with Iwasa. At the third Paul Ricard round, he took the victor honours for a third time during the first race; he finished fifth and sixth in the final two races. With eight further podiums, two pole positions and three wins, Hadjar finished third in the drivers' standings with 233 points, being the highest placed French driver.
Formula Regional (2021–2022)
2021
Hadjar made his debut at the Formula Regional level in 2021, competing in the first three rounds of the F3 Asian Championship with Evans GP. He impressed right from the start, scoring a podium finish during the opening round in Dubai Autodrome. During the second round at Yas Marina, Hadjar demonstrated strong pace and finished on the podium in all three rounds. Hadjar scored another third place during the final race of the third round. Despite not taking part in the latter rounds of the campaign, Hadjar managed to finish sixth in the standings, highest of all part-time entrants.Hadjar's main campaign would lie in the Formula Regional European Championship, where he partnered Zane Maloney, Léna Bühler and fellow countryman Hadrien David at R-ace GP. Hadjar scored his first points, along with his first rookie win, at the first round in Imola. He then proceeded to score his first podium at the next event in Barcelona, and achieved his first Formula Regional victory in the first race on the streets of Monaco, from pole position. In that same weekend, Hadjar finished second in race two, only behind teammate Maloney, and closed in on the championship lead held by Grégoire Saucy. However, Hadjar would be unable to score a podium finish until the final round of the season, despite amassing a number of finishes in the top six. Following a disappointing round at Mugello where he hadn't scored any points, Hadjar bounced back with a double podium in that final round at Monza, scoring a win in the second race after the leading pair collided. Hadjar ended up fifth in the standings, just four points behind teammate Maloney, and won the honours for the best rookie of the season.
2022
At the start of 2022, Hadjar raced in the Formula Regional Asian Championship with Hitech Grand Prix. Hadjar started off the season with a podium in Yas Marina, he would also claim a double rostrum in round 2. Hadjar secured his first win of the year during the first race at the Dubai Autodrome, where he withstood heavy pressure from Paul Aron. Hadjar would once again triumph in the final race of the campaign in Abu Dhabi from pole, meaning he finished third in the standings.FIA Formula 3 (2022–2023)
2022: Third in the championship
In November 2021, Hadjar drove for Hitech Grand Prix in the FIA Formula 3 post-season test. He would eventually be announced to drive for the team in the 2022 season in January. He started his season out in the best way possible, inheriting victory in the Sakhir sprint race after original winner Oliver Bearman had received a five-second time penalty for track limits infringements. The feature race would be less successful, as Hadjar finished 25th after suffering a puncture caused by contact with Alexander Smolyar. Qualifying seventh in Imola, Hadjar made his way to the podium places in the sprint race, but a collision with Caio Collet on the last lap dropped him to fifth place. Hadjar returned to the podium during the feature race, benefitting from a last corner collision between Bearman and Grégoire Saucy to finish third. A fourth place in qualifying followed in Barcelona, he battled in the lower end of the points and finished tenth. He would finish third the next day, after Hadjar passed Smolyar at the start of lap 1. At Silverstone, a mistake on his qualifying lap confined him to ninth on the grid. In the sprint race, he moved up two places to second in the first half of the race before overtaking Victor Martins on the penultimate lap, allowing Hadjar to take his second win. before finishing fifth on Sunday following a fierce fight with fellow Red Bull junior Jak Crawford. Hadjar made overtakes to finish fifth in the feature race.Hadjar put himself into championship contention by taking pole in Spielberg. After scoring one point on Saturday, Hadjar converted his pole into a lights-to-flag feature race win in rainy conditions. Hadjar qualified tenth in Hungary and moved up to second in the sprint race, but a mistake saw him slip to fourth place. Hadjar experienced a challenging race on Sunday as a poor start meant he ended up in 18th. A mixed-weather qualifying session at Spa yielded a disappointing 23rd place for Hadjar, though he progressed enough to score two points in the sprint race, where he finished ninth. Hadjar lost the championship lead at the penultimate round in Zandvoort, despite scoring a sixth and fifth place in the races. In a close championship fight between seven drivers, Hadjar put a dent into his title aspirations by crashing at the final corner during qualifying in Monza, meaning he would start from 16th. Contact with Kush Maini during the sprint race necessitated a front wing change, which left him down in 27th. He would finish ninth on Sunday, meaning that Hadjar finished fourth in the drivers' standings, with three wins, one pole, five podiums and 123 points.
2023: Return to F3 in Macau
Hadjar returned to Formula 3 to participate in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix with Hitech Pulse-Eight for the final edition of the FIA Formula 3 World Cup. He would qualify fourth for the Qualification Race before finishing ninth and seventh in the Qualification Race and Main Race respectively.FIA Formula 2 (2023–2024)
2023: Rookie season
Having tested for Hitech at the 2022 F2 post-season test at Yas Marina, Hadjar joined the team for the 2023 Formula 2 season alongside his then fellow Red Bull junior Jak Crawford. On debut in Bahrain, Hadjar qualified 14th and finished 20th on Saturday after struggling with his tyres, but ended up seventh in the feature race. He scored more points in Jeddah, finishing ninth on Sunday after qualifying 19th. He then qualified fourth at Albert Park and finished sixth on Saturday, but finished outside of the points on Sunday after suffering front wing damage due to contact with Oliver Bearman during a pit stop, as well as a subsequent penalty. This was followed up by a charge from 18th to eighth in the Baku sprint race, though he was demoted to 11th for illegally overtaking Jack Doohan during the safety car restart. He bounced back by finishing seventh in the feature race after trying an alternative strategy.Hadjar qualified tenth in Monaco meaning he would start the sprint from pole; he led until lap 6 when a mechanical failure put him out of the race. He subsequently finished 12th in the feature race and later experienced another scoreless weekend in Barcelona. Hadjar qualified 21st in Austria and took a gamble in the sprint race, starting on slick tyres on a drying track. This paid off as he progressed to fourth by the chequered flag, before being promoted to third following a disqualification for Clément Novalak. In the feature race Hadjar finished 12th. Hadjar qualified ninth in Silverstone, where he battled for the podium spots in the sprint race but eventually finished fifth. A poor strategy choice in the feature race led to a finish outside of the points. Hadjar qualified fifth in Hungary, and he held off championship leader Frederik Vesti to finish eighth in the sprint race. In his best Sunday showing of the year thus far, Hadjar ended where he started in fifth.
A week later, Hadjar crashed into the pit exit wall during the feature race in Spa-Francorchamps, ending his chance for points. He started the Zandvoort sprint race from the front and held the lead as a multi-car accident caused the race to be halted; the subsequent rain shower led to the event's abandonment, as Hadjar was awarded victory but no points as less than two racing laps had been completed. He finished the feature race in sixth place. A frustrating weekend at Monza followed, as Hadjar qualified fourth but failed to score points during the races, most notably damaging his front wing on the opening lap of the feature race. At the season finale in Yas Marina Hadjar ran second in the opening laps of the sprint race, though he eventually dropped to fifth by the end. Hadjar ended his season with an eighth place in the feature race, his second double-points result of the season.
Hadjar finished the year 14th in the drivers' standings with 55 points, two behind teammate Crawford.