At Zandvoort, the Dutch crowd was braced for a McLaren and Max Verstappen show, but it was a 20-year-old rookie who stole part of the spotlight. Isack Hadjar, in only his 15th Formula 1 race, delivered the drive of his career to claim third place for Racing Bulls. Keeping his composure all afternoon, he shadowed the front-runners, and when fate intervened in the form of Lando Norris’ retirement, he capitalised, delivered clean laps, and brought home his maiden podium. For a driver still finding his footing in the sport’s toughest arena, it was a statement: Hadjar belongs here.
Third place at the Dutch Grand Prix may read like a quiet number on the results sheet, but for the 20-year-old Racing Bulls driver, it was a seismic milestone: the first taste of silverware in a career that’s been gathering pace with relentless momentum. The result also pushed him into the top ten in the championship standings, an impressive statement for a rookie still finding his rhythm among the sport’s giants.
But who is Isack Hadjar? Where is Isack Hadjar from, and how did he grab a seat at the pinnacle of motorsports? As the world celebrates the young driver’s podium-worthy drive, we are taking a look back at his journey to the grand stage of motorsports.
Making history as the first Arab driver to take part in the high-octane motorsport, fans have been posed with the question: where is Isack Hadjar from? Born in Paris in 2004 to Algerian parents, Isack Hadjar carries Arab heritage into a sport where no one from the region has raced at this level before. He straddles two worlds: the European circuits that shaped his racing craft and the Arab heritage that gives his story a wider resonance. Hadjar started karting at just five years old, racing across France and Europe before stepping into French F4 as a teenager, where he quickly scored wins and proved he had the grit for single-seaters. In 2021, he stunned Monaco by taking pole and victory in Formula Regional, and added podiums at Yas Marina in the Asian Championship.
Formula 3 brought a win in Bahrain and a fourth-place finish in a tight championship fight, followed by two seasons in Formula 2 — first with comeback drives that caught attention, then with dominant feature race wins at tracks like Monaco, Silverstone, and Qatar. His rise caught the eye of Red Bull, who gave him F1 testing opportunities before confirming him as Racing Bulls’ full-time driver in 2025. Just months later, he turned promise into history by standing on the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix, becoming the first Arab driver to do so in Formula One.
His first Formula 1 podium at Zandvoort isn’t just a career milestone, it’s a cultural marker. For the young driver, it’s proof that a childhood dream has taken flight. For the Arab world, it’s a reminder that the grid now has a voice and a face that represents them. And for Formula 1, it’s the arrival of a rookie who looks destined to leave a lasting mark.
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