Isack Hadjar is gunning for the Formula 2 championship in 2024 as the season comes to the final four rounds.
The Frenchman currently leads the drivers’ standings over Gabriel Bortoleto and Paul Aron as the season heads to Monza in late August.
Hadjar is in his sophomore year in Formula 2 having spent last season with Hitech, where he achieved one podium at Spielberg but struggled with consistency and ended the year in 14th.
This season has seen great improvements from the 19-year-old with regular points finishes and podiums with Campos Racing, and Hadjar got an outing with Red Bull in FP1 at Silverstone.
But speaking with Formula Scout, two of his race engineers believe the Red Bull junior driver is being perceived in a different way by TV broadcasts.
Isack Hadjar’s race engineers believe he is being given an ‘unfair image’ by TV broadcasts
While Hadjar leads the standings after a brilliant improvement from 2023, it has not been without its difficulties, with the Frenchman suffering three retirements thus far.
Drivers can be known to be hot-headed over their team radio when things are not quite going to plan, and broadcasters tend to showcase most, if not all of the times where the competitors seem to lose their cool.
Hadjar is among these drivers who are known to have the odd tense radio message, with the feature race in Hungary being a prime example. The Frenchman was meant to line up third for the race, but a timing mistake meant he did not leave the pit lane in time and was forced to start in the pits.
But according to his race engineer Jose Fontestad and performance engineer Gabriel Mertens, these transmissions are not a true reflection of who Hadjar is while on track.
“I think it is more a perception from the outside than the real thing,” said Fontestad.
“He of course can sound very direct and hot-headed sometimes, but it is a consequence of how much it means for him, a sign of his energy. He is getting better on managing these situations and he knows that it will lead to improve his performances.
“I don’t see many negatives as far as it is not affecting his performance. That is the way he is. He never goes into personal comments, so all good.”
“His approach is always clear and concise, for us it’s a positive point as it makes the work with him more effective, added Mertens.
“On radio he is calm most of the time, but he has his moments in hot situations, as most drivers do. TV broadcast focus mainly on those moments and it gives him quite an unfair image. It’s a point where he can do better, but he has already done big improvements on that aspect.”
Isack Hadjar leads the F2 championship by 39 points
As the season heads to Monza, Hadjar holds a 39-point lead over McLaren junior driver Bortoleto, with Aron sat third and five points behind the Brazilian.
Hadjar has won more races than any other driver on the F2 grid with four, all of which being in feature races, at Melbourne, Imola, Silverstone and Spa.
The Frenchman has also achieved three more podiums and has only finished outside the points on three occasions where he has made it to the chequered flag.
The streets of Baku follow the race at Monza, with the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar coming before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.