One of Formula 2’s title protagonists have made a step closer to making it to the Formula 1 grid.
Isack Hadjar is currently sat second in the Formula 2 drivers’ standings, four and a half points behind the leader Gabriel Bortoleto with two rounds to go.
The Frenchman has won more races than any other driver this season, with four wins in the Feature Races at Melbourne, Imola, Silverstone and Spa. This feat puts Hadjar one win away from equalling Charles Leclerc’s record for Feature Race wins in F2.
Hadjar has been a part of the Red Bull junior team since 2022 and is looking to make the step up into F1.
And the 19-year-old has moved closer to that goal following the announcement of Daniel Ricciardo’s exit from Visa Cash App RB.
Isack Hadjar will get more testing opportunities in Formula 1 after being confirmed as Red Bull’s reserve driver
The Aussie has been dropped from the team following the Singapore Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson being called up to replace him for the final six races of the season.
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Lawson had been serving as Red Bull’s reserve driver for the 2024 season and will now be given a great opportunity to prove himself ahead of a potential permanent seat in 2025.
With the Kiwi driver stepping into an F1 car, the Milton Keynes-based squad were in need of a replacement as their reserve driver, with it being rumoured that Hadjar would be given the role.
This has been confirmed to Sky Sport Germany, who have reported that the Frenchman will be in the role until the end of the season and will be a ‘flexible’ reserve option for Red Bull in the future.
Furthermore, it has been reported that Hadjar will be given ‘further testing opportunities in Formula 1 cars’, having had three previous FP1 outings with the team.
The 19-year-old got his debut on an F1 weekend with AlphaTauri at the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix in FP1, before going on to make two appearances with the main Red Bull team at Abu Dhabi that year and this season at Silverstone.
Isack Hadjar is fighting Gabriel Bortoleto for the 2024 Formula 2 title
With such a slim margin between Hadjar and Bortoleto in the F2 standings, the championship is set to go down to the wire with Qatar and Abu Dhabi still to go.
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Hadjar comes into the race at the Losail International Circuit on a poor run of form, having failed to score points in the last two rounds.
The Frenchman has in fact failed to score in six of the last seven races; the one he did score in was his victory at the Feature Race at Spa.
Bortoleto went into the last round in Baku 12.5 points behind Hadjar, but with the Brazilian fifth and fourth in the two races, claiming the fastest lap in the Feature Race, it is advantage Bortoleto in F2, albeit a very small one.