Isack Hadjar has described his commencement from Racing Bulls to the senior Pink Bull crew as a “tradition shock”, although the 21-year-old insists his years within the junior programme made the transition really feel pure.
Hadjar stepped as much as associate four-time Formulation 1 champion Max Verstappen at Pink Bull for the 2026 season following his rookie 12 months with Racing Bulls. Whereas each operations fall below the identical power drink father or mother firm, Hadjar admitted the shift in working environments was big.
“That is positively a tradition shock, for instance,” Hadjar mentioned on the Speaking Bull podcast. “You go from extra of a household crew, an Italian crew, to British. It is positively totally different.
“VCARB helped me massively in my first 12 months,” he defined. “They’re used to having younger drivers to organize for the principle seat.”
Hadjar has been built-in into the Pink Bull pipeline since 2021. He defined that his historical past of junior testing and early free observe outings, together with driving Verstappen’s equipment on the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, made the promotion far much less jarring than a typical switch between rival constructors.
He additionally identified that his working relationship along with his present engineer, “Woody” (Richard Wooden), really started three years in the past throughout these preliminary observe periods.
Isack Hadjar, Pink Bull Racing
Picture by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
“The transition to Pink Bull, it isn’t like Lewis [Hamilton] from Mercedes to Ferrari,” Hadjar mentioned. “I have been within the junior crew since 2021. I have been having FP1 assessments, junior testing. So, I am working with Woody this 12 months, however I had my first FP1 outing with him already three years in the past. So, for me, it is pure to be there.”
Hadjar added: “There are nonetheless a couple of pinch-me moments as a result of it isn’t like I’ve had 200 races within the crew. Each time I stroll by the storage, going into the automotive, for me, I nonetheless really feel that proud feeling of being there and being in a world champion crew subsequent to such an incredible team-mate.
“I should be there, however I am blessed to be there as nicely.”
We would like your opinion!
What would you wish to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Group
