As Formula 1 returns to action this week, six drivers will begin their first full season on the grid as a three-day preseason test takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.
For one of these drivers, reaching F1 is the culmination of a “family project.”
Isack Hadjar, who finished second in the F2 Driver Championship a year ago, won promotion to the F1 Grid for the 2025 campaign. Hajar is given spots to the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls and drives alongside Tsunoda as a rookie.
As Hajar outlined in his team's season preview, this would not have been possible without his parents.
“It was my dad who took me to the truck from the beginning and did mechanical work on the cart. So we did a lot of kilometres together. “On the other side, my mother was a sponsor. I dealt with the difficult task of finding and took care of my budget. In fact, she is my manager. She worked very hard to find the funds to race in a good championship. Fighted. What she did to get me here is huge. It's really a family project.”
Hadjar went through the single seater ranks starting with French F4 in 2019 before climbing F2 for the 2023 campaign. Hajar finished 14th in the F2 drivers championship in his first season before he blew rockets to the top of the rankings a year ago. Hajar sat second in the rankings just a fifth of Gabriel Boltreto and arrived in Abu Dhabi for the weekend of last season's final race of F2 campaign.
However, after finishing fifth in the F2 sprint race, a stall from Hajar at the start of the feature race shattered his championship dream. he Called the result”[t]He is the worst moment of my life right now. ”
However, winning a spot on the F1 grid is a solid consolation award.
Still, Hajar acknowledges that he has a lot to learn in his rookie season.
“Of course, I don't think it will be easy in general as I have no experience in all areas of Formula One. For example, I've never raced an hour and a half, but like tire management, the strategy is It's on a much more complicated level. Hadjar said: “And the whole weekend is different, with three practice sessions before qualifying. As a rookie, there's a lot to learn. .”
Thankfully, Hajar will lean on veteran Yuki Tsunoda. The two have previously worked together for a short time, and the next newcomer wants to learn from their teammates how to approach F1 on both tracks.
“I think we can learn everything from him that rookie drivers don't know! It's useful to be able to look at his data and understand how he approaches the race weekend,” Hajar said. said. “The aspects you can learn from him in terms of driving, especially how he tackles long-term or qualifying laps. I know how to drive quickly and what I have to do, but the whole race is. His experiences over the weekend of the event are something I can learn. I'm glad he remembered our first meeting in Suzuka! It was about five and a half years ago and he was FIA F3 at the time. I was racing in the championship. I was in my first season of F4. I was 14 years old.”
Hajah's main goals for 2025? Learn VCARB 02. The Formula 1 schedule takes him to some new circuits, but the younger driver believes that if he can master his own machinery, his circuit knowledge will continue.
“What I've learned so far in my career is that once you've fully understood your car and how it's being handled, circuit knowledge is a secondary factor and adapting to it. Cars should happen very quickly once you master it,” Hajar said. “So for me, I'm not worried about that aspect of the season.”
The process begins this week in Bahrain.
