Isack Hadjar: “I owe a lot to Helmut Marko”

La Formula 1 is such a difficult Everest to reach that it usually takes a clever mix of talent, mental strength and success to make it to the top of the pyramid. Vice-champion of Formula 2 In a championship where he was not always lucky in the elements, Isack Hadjar achieved the first major goal of his life, that of winning a seat in the most prestigious championship car in the world.

On the sidelines of receiving his FFSA golden steering wheel at the Seine Musicale last Thursday, December 19, the day he signed with Racing Bulls in Faenza (Italy), the Tricolor delivered his reaction to Canal +. Moved and proud, the Frenchman had already looked ahead to the next season. "I can already see myself in the car, and I can't wait to do everything to try to beat my teammate. I can't believe it yet. I don't know if it's because it's normal, in the sense that I've always had this goal in me since I was little. For me, it was obvious to get to F1. What I want to do there, however, is different. I have everything I need to perform, it's up to me now."

Isack Hadjar is eager to try to beat Tsunoda

And the Parisian continues. “I feel really lucky and privileged. I will start to really realise in Bahrain during the pre-season test. I will share the track with Lewis, Alonso, Max… the field is so high, there is so much level. I know myself, I know that when I get in the car, I will want to beat tsunoda. The first races are going to be tough, we mustn't let that get us down. I know that if I'm behind my teammate in terms of performance, I'm already preparing myself to keep my head up and work to understand." 

If it ain't broken… don't SIX it 🫡@Isack_Hadjar will be taking his driver number from his karting days into F1.#F1 #VCARB pic.twitter.com/wMjxXOEQXw

— Visa Cash App RB F1 Team (@visashapprb) December 23, 2024

Isack owes his accession to F1 above all to his talent, to the perseverance of those around him, but also to another man, the head of the academy Helmut Marko. The Austrian, who himself signed the Tricolore in 2021 in Monaco when the latter had walked over the competition in the streets of the Principality, has always believed enormously in his protégé. In an exclusive interview with Autoweekly in 2022, when Hadjar was still just a pilot Formula 3, the octogenarian already imagined a future in F1 for his protégé. "If he performs well in F2, there is a strong probability of seeing Isack Hadjar in F1 in 2024," he told us at the time. So we had to wait another year… but the mission was a resounding success.

“When I signed my contract (at Racing Bulls), Helmut told me that it was time to prove myself, that it was my moment. I was very touched that he made the trip to Italy to sign the contract with me. I owe him a lot. The relationship I have with him is not a simple boss-employee relationship in which he would hit me when things are not going well. I do not give in and when we do not agree, I give him my point of view anyway. I think he has respect for me, for my personality. With what I do on the track and my character, that was enough (to convince him) »The ball is now in Isack's court to try to repay the trust placed in him for more than three years now.

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