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Alex Brundle highlights the ‘professional’ trait Isack Hadjar didn’t have in F2 that earned him Dutch Grand Prix podium

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Isack Hadjar made history by becoming the youngest podium finisher in a Formula 1 race from France when he finished third in the Dutch Grand Prix.

The 20-year-old Hadjar beat the record previously held by Pierre Gasly, who was a podium finisher for the first time at 23 years old at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

It came after an impressive lap for Hadjar during qualifying, which put him fourth fastest, then in the race, he was handed good fortune when Lando Norris retired with a power unit-related issue in a major blow to his title chances.

Hadjar’s podium now puts him 10th in the Drivers’ Championship, and shows how much he has developed as a driver since his days in feeder series F2, according to Alex Brundle on the Fast and Curious podcast.

Isack Hadjar leads Charles Leclerc at the 2025 Dutch GP.
Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Alex Brundle thinks Isack Hadjar does not ‘lose head’ as much in F1

Hadjar was always known as an animated character over team radio, having had several outbursts when racing in F2.

Brundle thinks that part of Hadjar has changed a lot since he made the switch to F1, which has enabled him to extract the most out of his performance on track.

“What impresses me most about him is that back in the Formula 2 days, he would lose his head in the car quite a lot. You’d hear it over the radio,” said Brundle.

“You’d sometimes see it with an occasional rash move on track. As soon as he’s made it to Formula 1, they had a couple of sort of slightly louder races right at the beginning. And the big error he made at the beginning of the year, which is well behind him now in Melbourne.

“But he’s calmed it right down and just become this consummate professional delivering, which is super impressive. He really deserved that podium.”

Isack Hadjar’s podium trophy will be fixed after he broke it during celebrations

Hadjar took part in the traditional post-race celebrations with his team outside the Racing Bulls garage, although just a couple of moments into the jubilant celebrations, his third-place trophy would break while taking the team photo.

Video of the moment was posted to social media, which shows the base breaking away from the rest of the trophy.

The Frenchman is the latest victim in what has become a trend in F1, after Max Verstappen had at least two trophies break last season.

Hadjar’s trophy will either be replaced or have a replica issued by the manufacturer in the coming days, which is in contact with Racing Bulls over the preferred option.