Isack Hadjar: Red Bull junior joins Racing Bulls as F1 2025 grid line-up completed for new season
French driver Isack Hadjar joins Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull's junior outfit for 2025 after Liam Lawson's promotion to the senior team; Hadjar will be one of six young drivers in their first full F1 seasons next year
Friday 20 December 2024 11:42, UK
Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar will take the final seat on the much-changed 2025 Formula 1 grid after being confirmed as the second Racing Bulls driver for next year.
With Liam Lawson having been promoted to the senior Red Bull team to replace Sergio Perez, Red Bull's second team - which is tweaking its name from RB for next year - had a seat open next to Yuki Tsunoda.
Frenchman Hadjar, 20, finished second in this year's F2 championship to Sauber new boy Gabriel Bortoleto after winning four races and becomes the latest driver from Red Bull's junior programme to graduate to the F1 grid.
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He has made four Practice One appearances with Red Bull's two teams over the past two seasons on F1 race weekends and becomes the 19th driver from the company's junior programme to step up to the top level.
"I'm very excited to step into my new role at VCARB, this is huge for myself, my family and all the people who have believed in me from the beginning," said Hadjar.
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"The journey from karting through the ranks in single-seaters, to now being in Formula 1 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, whose outfit finished eighth in the 2024 Constructors' Championship, said: "[Hadjar's] journey to Formula 1 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
In a clear changing of the guard in F1, Hadjar is the fourth driver from this year's F2 field to gain a race seat at the top level for 2025 after Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Oliver Bearman (Haas) and Bortoleto.
Jack Doohan, who raced in F2 from 2021-23, has been promoted to an Alpine race seat while Lawson will compete in a full season for the first time too after cameos in each of the last two campaigns.
Only two of F1's 10 teams - constructors' champions McLaren and Aston Martin - are fielding the same two drivers they started 2024 with.
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - No contract, cancel anytime
