There is no rookie of the year award in Formula 1 but, if there was, Isack Hadjar would be a leading contender – his case only strengthened by qualifying a very impressive fourth at Zandvoort
As far as Formula 1 debuts can go, his was about as bad as it can get. Isack Hadjar was given a baptism of fire in difficult weather conditions at the Australian Grand Prix in March, initially qualifying 11th but failing to start as he crashed on the formation lap.
That led to tears from Hadjar as what had happened to him sank in. As he trudged back to the Melbourne paddock, one of the first to throw an arm around him was Anthony Hamilton, father of seven-time F1 champion Lewis who just happens to be the Frenchman’s biggest idol.
The 20-year-old has come a long way since then. Four points in his third Grand Prix start at Suzuka helped to settle him down on the F1 grid and he has gone from strength to strength since, regularly contending for points and managing 22 of them so far.
That makes him the second quickest Red Bull driver on the grid behind only Max Verstappen, despite being the only one of the four to have not been the Dutchman’s team-mate at some point this year. Hadjar is also the second highest-scoring rookie, behind Kimi Antonelli in the much more competitive Mercedes.
And, in qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix, he managed his most eye-catching performance to date. McLaren dominated to lock out the front row, with Verstappen third quickest at his home track. And behind that trio of F1 heavyweights was, much to everyone’s surprise, Hadjar.
In 40 years of the team currently competing as Racing Bulls, stretching back to before Red Bull’s ownership of the Faenza-based outfit which started life as the humble Minardi outfit in 1985, a driver representing them has only qualified in the top four for a Grand Prix on 13 occasions.
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Hadjar’s delight at having produced one of those remarkable results was evident as he punched the air and roared with delight over the radio after being informed of what he had just achieved. It was an outburst the likes of which we don’t often expect from a driver who only rarely raises a smile.
But he was wearing one as he said: “I’m very happy, finally I’m quite satisfied with what I did, so it was a good job from me. We probably got a bit lucky with the wind gusts, but I pulled an amazing lap and it stuck because the car was great.
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“Surely, it’s the best lap I’ve had this year because it’s a very hard track, really demanding. And I put it all on the line, especially that final corner. I thought I did pretty well there to actually gain one more tenth. That was special.”
Keeping hold of fourth place in the race will be tough with George Russell in the Mercedes and both Ferrari cars lining up directly behind him. But converting it into yet more points will be another excellent result for a young racer who did not get the hype of some of the other rookies who stepped up to F1 this year, but whose stock continues to rise as his maiden campaign goes on.