Isack Hadjar interview: Red Bull’s surprise F1 rookie reveals allThe 20-year-old French-Algerian rookie has wasted no time standing out. He had a rocky

start in Melbourne, where he crashed on the formation lap, but has since emerged as one of the most talked-about newcomers on the grid, with Q3 appearances in China and Japan, as well as points finishes in Japan and Saudi Arabia. His speed and consistency have already earned praise from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who called him “the surprise of the season”.

Motorsport sat down with the Racing Bulls driver to reflect on his journey to the top — and the road that brought him here.

A spark from Pixar
It all started with a Disney Pixar classic. “It was just watching the movie Cars at home,” Hadjar said about the moment he fell in love with motorsport. “I was like two years old. I remember the moment we bought the DVD. It’s crazy that I can remember that! And after that I started watching Formula 1 on TV. So yeah, that’s how it started

By the age of six, the Paris-born youngster was already in a kart. “There was a school near Paris, an indoor karting track. I went there with my dad, and I was really good at it the first time,” Hadjar recalled. At around eight years old, he began karting competitively. “My first few years karting were amazing – like the first two or three seasons.

But things got tougher as his karting career progressed. “When we went to the national championships and higher up the ranks, it became really frustrating, because I didn’t have the mileage nor the chassis nor the engine – like the right package – to go fast. Of course, my parents at this time were both more keen on me studying than anything else. So when I was approximately ten to thirteen years old, I couldn’t compete with the other guys.”

Hadjar grew increasingly frustrated that success depended more on budget than on talent. “I always wanted to compete in the European and World Championships, which I managed to do in my final year of karting. But that was all we could afford. A go-kart season, when you do a full season, is more than 20 to 24 races. But I was doing eight. I was only doing the main ones. So I was just a bit too unprepared and because of that, it was never going well. So my karting career was a bit frustrating, even though I had a lot of fun in the first few years.”

Best friends and rivals
Asked about his main rival in karting, Hadjar didn’t hesitate to name Sami Meguetounif, now racing in Formula 2. “He’s a good friend of mine – probably my best friend in motorsport. We had a lot of battles together in the national championships. But always enjoyable ones.”

The friendship with Meguetounif started in 2015. “It’s now ten years since we became friends. I met him and his dad in Le Mans and he was like: ‘Are you Algerian?’ I said: ‘I’m French but I have Algerian roots.’ And he said: ‘Yeah, I’m Algerian!’ That was really funny. I think it’s a really nice story that we have together. And I’m waiting for him to get to F1,” Hadjar remarked.

Hadjar has no doubt the two will meet again in Formula 1. “He is very fast. He was a bit less fortunate than me in his career path. I would say – and he knows – I had better career choices. And that’s really key – and timing is key as well. But he has all the qualities to be here.”