Isack Hadjar lands Racing Bulls F1 seat to complete 2025 grid

The 20-year-old French driver will partner Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull’s sister team next year

Kieran Jackson
Formula 1 Correspondent
Friday 20 December 2024 10:07 GMT
Comments
Red Bull Replace Perez With Lawson For 2025 Season

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar has been announced as Yuki Tsunoda’s teammate at Racing Bulls next year, thus completing the 2025 F1 grid.

Liam Lawson was confirmed as Sergio Perez’s replacement at Red Bull yesterday, leaving a spot open alongside Tsunoda at Red Bull’s sister team.

And Red Bull junior driver Hadjar, 20, has landed the second seat at RB, ahead of Williams’ Franco Colapinto, to become the sixth full-time rookie next year.

Hadjar finished runner-up to Gabriel Bortoleto in this year’s F2 championship after stalling on the start line at the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Hadjar said: “I’m very excited to step into my new role at VCARB, [Visa Cash App Racing Bulls] this is huge for myself, my family and all the people who have believed in me from the beginning.

“The journey from karting through the ranks in single-seaters, to now being in Formula One is the moment I’ve been working towards my whole life, it is the dream.

“I feel like I’m stepping into a whole new universe, driving a much faster car and racing with the best drivers in the world. It’ll be a huge learning curve, but I’m ready to work hard and do the best I can for the team.

“I look forward to working with and learning from Yuki, I’ve always looked up to him, he went through the Red Bull Junior Program, like myself, and we’ve shared a similar path to F1. He’s very experienced and will be good to learn from.”

Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies praised Hadjar’s “outstanding” journey to the top-tier of single-seater motorsport.

Isack Hadjar will race for Racing Bulls in 2025
Isack Hadjar will race for Racing Bulls in 2025 (Getty Images)

“We’re excited to have Isack with us next year, bringing a new and fresh dynamic to the team alongside Yuki in 2025,” he said.

“His journey to Formula One has been nothing short of outstanding, he has shown remarkable growth, with a series of impressive results in the junior single-seater ranks.

“He has the talent and drive necessary to compete at the highest level, and we have every confidence that he will adapt quickly and make a significant impact.

“I believe Isack and Yuki will make a great team. Yuki brings invaluable experience to the team, he’s shown incredible resilience and maturity, which will be crucial for the team as we strive to hit all our aims and objectives in 2025.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in