After a less-than-impressive debut season which saw Isack Hadjar finish 14th in the 2023 drivers’ championship standings with 55 points, the Red Bull junior switched to Campos Racing for the 2024 F2 season. When speaking on his expectations for the season, Hadjar was optimistic. He stated he believed that his experience and the potential of the Campos Racing team would allow them to reach the top.
“I am really looking forward to start working with the team. I now have a year of experience in the F2 championship and with the potential of the Campos team, we will reach the top!”
A difficult start to 2024
Unfortunately, Hadjar suffered a difficult start to the season. In the opening round of the 2024 F2 season, in Sakhir, Hadjar set the third-fastest time of the session. He was, however, promoted to second place after Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini was disqualified for a technical infringement. This saw the French-Algerian driver start the sprint race from ninth place, and after a strong performance, he finished the race fourth, taking his first five points of the season. His feature race, however, would be a disappointing one.
Despite a strong start off the line, Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney overtook Hadjar in the opening lap of the race. He would not, however, have a chance to fight for the title as he suffered a collision with Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto on the first lap. This caused him to spin and he was unable to recover as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi hit him soon after. Both drivers subsequently retired from the race.
Further disappointment followed in the 2024 Jeddah F2 round. Despite finishing the qualifying session eighth, Hadjar could not score points. Instead, an engine issue forced him out of the sprint race on the penultimate lap. Hadjar, who had been running ninth, was subsequently classified 15th as he had completed over 90 percent of the race.
He would again retire from the feature rate after suffering a power loss on Lap 20. This would be the lowest point of the driver’s season, though certainly not the only difficult period.
Hadjar takes maiden win in Melbourne
After the disappointing Jeddah round, Hadjar arrived in Melbourne determined to redeem himself. His weekend would get off to a good start as he qualified eighth. This earned him a sprint race start from the second row, alongside his teammate Pepe Martí. This, unfortunately, would turn out poorly for both drivers.
At the start of the 2024 Melbourne F2 round sprint race, he wedged his teammate into Bortoleto, forcing both out of the race. Meanwhile, Hadjar took the lead from sprint pole-sitter Roman Staněk at the first corner before the safety car deployed, effectively neutralising the race.
Hadjar went on to dominate the race, holding off his opponents. However, though he crossed the line first, the stewards handed him a 10-second time penalty for causing the opening lap incident, ultimately demoting him to sixth place.
Though denied his first win, Hadjar remained undeterred. After starting the feature race from P8, he employed an alternative tyre strategy, which paid off when the safety car deployed in response to Hauger’s crash on his lap out of the pits.
This allowed Hadjar to emerge ahead of the drivers who had previously pitted after his own pit stop, and he claimed the net lead of the race when Maini, who had also stayed out during the first round of pit stops, made his pit stop.
Hadjar then successfully fended off Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron to claim his maiden F2 victory. This earned him the moniker “Petit Prost” from French publication, Le Parisien.
Mixed fortunes in Imola
Hadjar would endure another weekend of mixed fortunes in Imola. After a strong qualifying session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Hadjar found himself starting the sprint race from P7 under reverse grid conditions.
However, Hadjar would not have the chance to fight his war forward. Instead, he retired on the opening lap after suffering a collision with Franco Colapinto and Roman Staněk. This led to several other incidents which forced retirements from Dennis Hauger, Enzo Fittipaldi, and Joshua Dürksen, in addition to Hadjar and Staněk. MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto would survive the collisions and go on to claim victory.
The Red Bull junior would however bounce back the next day. After starting third, he put in a strong, defensive performance, and after fending off Bortoleto, claimed his second successive feature race win.
A strong mid-season
After his back-to-back feature race wins, Hadjar appeared to have settled into the 2024 F2 season. In Monaco, he finished the sprint race P8 before finishing P2 in the next day’s race.
Another Sunday win had appeared to be on the card for Hadjar, especially after he inherited the virtual lead of the race after polesitter Richard Verschoor retired. However, a late virtual safety car on the penultimate lap of the race would see him fall to second after Zak O’Sullivan’s mandatory pit stop allowed him to come out ahead of Hadjar. O’Sullivan would go on to claim his first win of the season. Hadjar finished P2.
He then added to his points tally in the 2024 Barcelona F2 round, after P6 and P5 finishes in the sprint and feature races respectively, before returning to the podium in Austria after a P3 finish in the feature race. This was followed by a win in the feature race of the 2024 Silverstone F2 round before a P3 finish in the Budapest feature race. Hadjar then went on to claim his fourth, and what would be his final win of the season, in the feature race in Spa-Francorchamps.
This was a strong mid-season performance for the French-Algerian driver who took points from all but four of the 12 races between the Monte Carlo and Spa-Francorchamps rounds. This put Hadjar in contention for the championship title, and he went into the summer break leading the championship with 165 points.
A blow to his championship fight
Unfortunately, Hadjar would suffer a slow restart to the season. He failed to score points in either the 2024 Monza or Baku F2 rounds. This, unfortunately, saw him surrender his lead in the championship to Bortoleto. Hadjar left Baku with the same 165 points that he had had at the end of the Spa-Francorchamps round – 4.5 points behind Bortoleto.
The championship fight would, however, heat up in Qatar. After a two-month break, Hadjar finished the 2024 Qatar F2 round ninth. After starting the sprint race from P2 under the reverse grid conditions, Hadjar claimed the lead of the race from Prema Racing’s Oliver Bearman on Lap 2. While he managed to build up a three-second lead, this would be for nought as poor tyre management would see him struggle to keep up a strong pace. He was repassed by Bearman on Lap 21 and dropped to fourth after a spin.
Hadjar would, however, enjoy better fortune in the next day’s feature race, and an opportunistically timed safety car allowed him to jump to third after a P9 start. Though denied his first win, Hadjar remained undeterred. Starting the race from P8, he employed an alternative tyre strategy, which paid off when the safety car deployed in response to Hauger’s crash on his lap out of the pits.
The title fight goes down to Abu Dhabi
Hadjar went into the 2024 Abu Dhabi F2 round just half a point behind championship leader Bortoleto. After a relatively strong qualifying session, which saw him finish fourth, Hadjar started the race from P6, three places ahead of Bortoleto who started from P9 under the reverse grid conditions. Unfortunately, Hadjar would have a difficult weekend. He finished the sprint race fifth after suffering front wing damage. This put him 4.5 points behind Bortoleto who finished second.
Hadjar’s weekend, however, would take a turn for the worse the next day. Despite lining up third on the grid, having gained a position after Aron was forced to start from the pit lane, Hadjar stalled at the start. Despite his best efforts, the Campos Racing driver could not recover. He finished the race 19th, one lap down. He ended the championship second with 192 points – 22.5 points down from Bortoleto who finished the race second.
Hadjar, understandably, was devasted by the outcome of the race. He described it as “the worst moment” of his life.
“I can’t believe all this hard work for that. The worst moment of my life, right now.”
Hadjar to make F1 debut with Racing Bulls in 2025
Hadjar will not have another chance to fight for the F2 title, as he is expected to make his Formula 1 debut in 2025. In December 2024, Racing Bulls announced that Hadjar would step up to Formula 1, partnering Yuki Tsunoda. He will replace Liam Lawson who was promoted to Red Bull Racing after the Milton Keynes-based team parted ways with Sergio Pérez after the Mexican driver suffered a disappointing 2024 season.
Hadjar, who previously participated in the rookie driver free practice sessions in 2023 with Scuderia AlphaTauri, and in 2024 with RB (competing as Visa Cash App RB), will now have a chance to further prove his skills as a racing driver on one of the biggest stages.
