Isack Hadjar recalls 'nightmare' moment over major F1 fear

Isack Hadjar has stated he feared he would never make it to F1 after suffering a disastrous first season in Formula 2. After finishing fourth in the 2022 Formula 3 campaign, Hadjar progressed to F2 with Hitech for his rookie year in the highly competitive junior category. Hadjar scored one podium across the year and finished 14th in the drivers' championship before enjoying a more successful second season prior to his promotion to F1. The Frenchman has impressed throughout the first half of his F1 venture, but stated he has not become a faster driver through his experiences in the junior categories. "I think raw speed and talent has always been there,” Hadjar told media including RacingNews365 . “I didn’t learn how to drive faster in the last three seasons. It's not true. “I remember my year in Hitech in F2 was an absolute nightmare, and I had this moment where I thought ‘I’m never going to make it to F1.'” Hadjar's eye-catching opening 14 rounds of his F1 career has already resulted in links to a Red Bull drive next year alongside Max Verstappen. The 20-year-old highlighted the support he had from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko helped him through the difficult periods of his career. "Thankfully I had very strong support from Helmut,” he said.  “He kept believing and gave me a second chance, which I took. “So as well as mental strength - obviously, because you need to not give up in those moments - you need strong people around and people that trust in you. “This is what I had. I had really good people around who believed in me, and that’s how I got back up, basically."