F1
Isack Hadjar was faster than Yuki Tsunoda in Abu Dhabi testing, says Christian Horner
Isack Hadjar. © Red Bull Content Pool
We were just waiting for the closure of the little internal stories of Red Bull to be able to plan calmly for 2025. Everything accelerated this week when Sergio Pérez, who was the teammate of Max Verstappen since 2021, has been asked to hand over the wheel to Liam Lawson for next year, leaving a seat free for Frenchman Isack Hadjar alongside the Japanese Yuki tsunoda.
Vice-champion of F2 after not being able to really defend his title chances due to a stall linked to "a software defect" According to Christian Horner, the Tricolore will in fact become the third French driver on the grid, joining Esteban Ocon et Pierre Gasly, in what will be the second national contingent behind the English.
Faster than Yuki in Abu Dhabi
Asked to comment on Hadjar's appointment to the F1, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made a rather surprising confession concerning the end-of-season tests, in which the Parisian participated at the wheel of the Red Bull alongside Yuki Tsunoda, who he will meet again at FaenzaThe Briton indeed praised Isack's work, assuring that he was a "raw talent in need of polishing" et "having speed" necessary for the high level.
He especially took the opportunity to slip in that he had been faster than Yuki in Abu Dhabi, during the end-of-season tests. The team principal seems to have ambition for his new protégé, based on what he has seen in Formula 2. "He was unlucky in the last race with the technical incident he suffered, but he impressed. Especially with his speed. It will be interesting to see how things evolve for him."
ALSO READ > Portrait: Isack Hadjar, the advent of the eternal outsider
Jeremy Satis
Deputy Digital Editor & F1 Reporter
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Creek
22/12/2024 at 08:42 a.m.
Hadjar is going to be dominated and ridiculed by Tsunoda.
ber
21/12/2024 at 10:35 a.m.
When you want to put your dog to sleep, you say it has rabies....
Yves-Henri RANDIER
21/12/2024 at 09:33 a.m.
Hadjar faster than Tsunhonda, information to justify the choice of Red Bull a posteriori? But was it a comparison under identical performance conditions between the 2 teammates at Ridiculous Bulls? Wouldn't it also be a way of putting - already! - pressure on the rookie Hadjar who should therefore, according to this good Christian, be ahead of his Japanese teammate in 2025?