Portrait: Isack Hadjar, the advent of the eternal outsider

It is the story of a determined boy, with an unwavering faith, who never imagined that one day he would not become a pilot. Formula 1. This may have sometimes caused some surprise from his interlocutors, lower down the pyramid, while his confidence in his abilities may have sometimes made him seem like an overconfident guy… but isn’t that a quality when you’re running for one of the 20 most prestigious seats? “He’s mostly someone who’s reserved by nature, and who doesn’t like to splash people,” says Christophe Lollier, national technical director at the FFSA and one of the first people to spot his talent. “He’s a protection, in the sense that he doesn’t give his trust easily. When you know him well, he talks a lot, is very charming, and opens up easily. He’s determined, he has no doubts about his potential… and that’s his strength. That’s why he got to where he is.”

So, it's in Formula 1. Announced this Friday, Isack will indeed drive alongside Yuki tsunoda next year at Racing Bulls, and will tick one of the most important boxes of his life by becoming a Grand Prix driver. This consecration, which the Tricolore cannot see as an end in itself, validates a career and a life focused on performance, with a family that has been able to get in tune. If Isack is so aware of his qualities, it is because the difficulties that have arisen in his path have helped him to become aware of his value. When most of his little comrades spent fortunes to shine on the European and world stages in karting, Isack chose instead to learn to drive via the federal route. Born and raised in the Paris region, first in the Melun area before moving to the West of Paris, the Frenchman fell into the pot all by himself, like a big boy, by bleeding the film Cars and shedding a little tear in front of the documentary film Senna. The passion for F1 of his father Yassine, a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and specialized in quantum physics, also helped. It is s