Isack Hadjar admitted that his goal in his debut year in Formula 1 was always to secure a promotion from Racing Bulls to be Max Verstappen’s teammate at the top team.
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The Frenchman managed to achieve his goal after a very positive first year in the category. Now, in 2026, after three rounds, the competitor has proven to be a strong teammate for the Dutchman, even with the low competitiveness of the RB22.
Looking back at his first career race in Formula 1 – the 2025 Australian GP where he crashed on the formation lap – Hadjar is satisfied with how things unfolded and how he managed to get to Red Bull.
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“I really enjoyed it. At the beginning of the year, I was very stressed. I knew I didn’t have much F1 experience. I knew it was the biggest championship, the last year with these regulations, so everyone was giving their all, and I needed to have pace. Was I going to be three tenths behind? Was I going to struggle to catch up with the others? But, in fact, none of that ever happened,” he told the F1 website.
“I got into the rhythm immediately and, I must say, I really enjoyed it. I knew that if I did my job naturally, I would get the spot, the promotion. And, to be honest, that was my goal at the beginning of the year. I thought: ‘I’ll take it easy, step by step, blah, blah, blah.’ That’s what I was saying. But, in reality, I wanted to have an incredible debut season, get into Red Bull, and that’s it,” he continued.
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