Isack Hadjar is dreaming big after landing the ultimate Formula One promotion to the Red Bull team, saying on Thursday that his goal for this year is to win at least one race after replacing Yuki Tsunoda as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
The 21-year-old Frenchman, who impressed with sister team Racing Bulls last season, said the reality had still not fully sunk in as he teams up with his idol who he watched win four F1 championships with Red Bull.
“It’s a bit unreal for me. I’ve always dreamed of driving for this team as a kid watching TV. I saw [Sebastian]] Vettel winning all those titles and now I’m finally in the big team,” Hadjar said as Red Bull revealed their car livery in Detroit.
Photo: AFP
A string of hopefuls have failed to match Verstappen’s relentless pace in Formula One, with the Dutch driver set to start the season with his fourth different teammate since the last race of 2024.
Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Tsunoda have all fallen by the wayside, but the transition for Hadjar should prove smoother than most having spent years climbing through Red Bull’s development ranks.
“The Red Bull family have been in it for a couple of years now since I signed up in the program as a kid. So it’s not fully new to me,” Hadjar said. “I’m lucky enough not to have to meet everyone the first time, there are familiar faces, also a couple of mechanics. I started to work quite early in the season to make sure I’m fully adapted and fully in the rhythm.”
Photo: AFP
As for his goals for this year, having secured a podium with third place in the Dutch Grand Prix in his rookie season, Hadjar said: “A race win would be good, at least.”
This season marks the start of a new engine era with an overhaul of the technical regulations and Verstappen, who lost last year’s title to McLaren’s Lando Norris by two points, said drivers would need time to get used to them.
“It’s all still a bit unknown,” he said. “It’s a very big, big change with the engine, the car. You can see also the dimension of the car has changed a bit. So for us drivers, initially we’ll take a bit of time to adjust. That’s why it’s very important during the test days that we are getting our laps in and we can optimize everything as well as possible.”
The four-time world champion said that he was keen to get to grips with the new car Red Bull unveiled at Detroit’s Michigan Central Station less than two months before the season opens in Melbourne on March 7.
New rules for 2026 see aerodynamic changes to make cars lighter and smaller, along with modifications to engine specifications to make for a greater contribution from electric power in the hybrid units.
Red Bull, which has previously relied on Honda engines, took the gamble in 2023 of developing its own engine for this year in partnership with automotive giant Ford, which is to return to F1 22 years after its departure.
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