19-year-old could win over Helmut Marko to force his way into AlphaTauri seat in 2025

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The AlphaTauri driver line-up for 2025 is going to be one of the most interesting talking points of the year, and Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar might be a name that suddenly gains a lot of traction.

AlphaTauri will be competing this season with Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo at the helm.

The pair finished 2023 strongly, but speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm has admitted that Red Bull are big fans of the 19-year-old Frenchman.

Even since Toro Rosso entered the sport after taking over from Minardi, a steady stream of Red Bull academy drivers have entered Formula 1 through the team.

The likes of Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are the greatest examples, but their influence on the sport can be seen across the grid.

However, their last driver hire was Nyck de Vries who came from outside the fold and 10 races later was once again no longer associated with Red Bull.

He was replaced by a familiar face in Daniel Ricciardo but with all of their drivers – except Max Verstappen – coming to the end of their current deals, change could be afoot.

It means that Isack Hadjar might be the beneficiary and could end up in an AlphaTauri in 2025.

He’s highly thought of at Red Bull and was praised by former team principal Franz Tost for his testing performance in Mexico City.

However, he will need to drive well in Formula 2 to grab the attention of the likes of Helmut Marko and Christian Horner.

Hadjar could earn AlphaTauri drive in 2025

Speaking about the Red Bull sister team’s potential line-up, Mitchell-Malm said: “I don’t think it’s impossible to see something like a [Liam] Lawson – Isack Hadjar line-up in 2025.

“There’s something about Hadjar that Red Bull quite like and I can see a scenario whereby Hadjar does like one thing that wins over Helmut Marko and he just goes, no I want him in a Formula 1 car next season.”

Straw: “Yeah, he’s an interesting driver Hadjar, he certainly hasn’t done enough as yet to justify being given a drive, but I was quite impressed with his Mexico FP1 outing, I followed that one closely, he’s got a good approach. He’s an interesting one.”

There will be an awful lot of clamour for Liam Lawson to return to Formula 1 next year.

He was very quick in his five races in 2023 and if Tsunoda or Ricciardo aren’t up to scratch then he’s at the front of the queue for a drive.

But, if in the craziness of the F1 driver market, both racers move on, then Hadjar will fancy his chances of being in an AlphaTauri in 2025.

Marko will have a very close eye on the Frenchman in F2 this year and a couple of early race wins will crank up the pressure on his more experienced colleagues.