Isack Hadjar has explained that he doesn’t “feel ready” to drive for Red Bull amid speculation linking him with a promotion from Formula 1 sister team Racing Bulls.
The French rookie heads into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in ninth place in the Drivers’ Championship after a consistent showing of impressive performances.
By contrast, his initial Racing Bulls team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, has struggled since his promotion to the Milton Keynes-based squad, having replaced Hadjar’s latest partner, Liam Lawson.
The uncertainty of Red Bull’s revolving door and who will walk through it next has left Hadjar with an inevitable choice to be the next to step up.
Although advisor Helmut Marko has said that Tsunoda will be given until the end of the season to prove his worth to the hierarchy, the rumours about Hadjar will not go away.
However, for Hadjar, the message seemed pretty clear: a full campaign with Racing Bulls is what is required for him to progress as a driver to be ready to make that step.
“I mean it’s fair to say that because Liam and Yuki are quality drivers, so it’s normal to think that,” Hadjar told media including Motorsport Week.
“And I’m just curious, it’s the only word I can use, being next to Max is the only thing I can say, but for sure I don’t feel ready, that’s a fact.
“I think it’s good to take experience where I’m at. I’m enjoying so much every weekend, learning a lot, it’s a car I enjoy driving so we’ll see in the future, but obviously as a Red Bull junior driver the trajectory is normal to go there.”
Why Hadjar is in no rush to make Red Bull step
Many drivers may have been less frank and candid about declaring their lack of readiness for the task, but when asked what his reasoning was for his honesty, Hadjar said the lack of experience in trying to adapt an underperforming car was the key factor.
“I think I haven’t experienced enough maybe a tricky car,” he reasoned. “So far my car has been very consistent and not the hardest to drive, so I didn’t have weekends where the car felt terrible. I don’t have experience on trying to bring a car from zero to high in a single weekend.
“So I think maybe on the technical aspect as well I can still make progress, understanding what an F1 car needs to go faster and so on. I think raw speed, you have it or not, but it’s more outside of it really.”
Racing Bulls’ CEO Peter Bayer joked that he will “handcuff” Hadjar to the team to prevent him from leaving, something that he found a huge compliment.
“I think it’s good,” Hadjar said when asked by Motorsport Week how it made him feel. “It means that I’m well integrated to the team, they like me and I’m happy where I’m at right now.
“They value me quite high so I think I can only be grateful and I’m very happy with the current situation, it’s very good for a rookie.”
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