Isack Hadjar reveals surprising Red Bull target

Isack Hadjar has admitted that the aim for his rookie F1 season was always to seal a promotion from Racing Bulls to the seat alongside Max Verstappen at the top team.

The Red Bull driver impressively achieved his goal, weaving together a "big, big rookie season" as he had hoped for, which was punctuated with a maiden podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Three rounds into the current campaign, although the Milton Keynes-based squad is struggling with the difficult RB22, the Frenchman has so far proven to be a better match for his four-time F1 drivers' champion team-mate than those who came before him.

But looking back at the advent of his F1 career, which started ominously — or rather did not start, more accurately — when he crashed out on the formation lap of the Australian Grand Prix last year, Hadjar is pleased with how he conducted himself.

Understandably — and ultimately — crestfallen in Melbourne, the 21-year-old was immediately on the pace at Albert Park, bounced back straight away, taking that misery in his stride and refusing to miss a beat.

"I really enjoyed it," Hadjar said in an interview with Formula 1 when reflecting on his start to life in F1. "I felt very stressed at the start of the year. I knew I didn't have much mileage in F1.

"I knew it's the biggest championship, it's the last year of these regulations, so everyone is flat out, and I need to have the pace. Am I going to be three-tenths behind? I'm going to struggle to catch up, but actually, it never happened like that."

Perhaps even more impressive than his trip to the rostrum at Zandvoort, it was not until the following weekend in Monza — the 16th round of the season — that Hadjar experienced the first Q1 elimination of his career, showcasing undeniable consistency and pace over one lap.

Now, he can concede that his mission was to ascend to the second Red Bull seat, viewed as the most difficult in F1, all along.

"I was straight in the rhythm, and I must say, I just enjoyed it a lot," Hadjar added. "I knew that if I did the job naturally, I would get the seat, the promotion. And to be honest, that was my target starting the year.

"I was like, 'I'm going to take it step by step, blah, blah, blah.' That's what I was saying. But in fact, I wanted to have a big, big rookie season, step into the Red Bull, and that was it."