AlphaTauri boss says 19-year-old test driver will be in Formula 1 very soon

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AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost has been raving about youngster Isack Hadjar and tipped him for a big future in Formula 1.

Tost was speaking to RacingNews365 after an eventful Mexico City Grand Prix for the team.

It was a brilliant weekend for AlphaTauri as they finally got off the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship standings.

A fantastic seventh-place finish from Daniel Ricciardo earned them six vital points and potentially tens of millions in additional prize money come the end of the season.

It should have been an even better Sunday as Yuki Tsunoda was running in the points, but he spun after contact with Oscar Piastri and could only recover to 12^th.

Mexico City also saw half the teams on the grid give young drivers their first test in an F1 car.

AlphaTauri’s chosen rookie was Isack Hadjar and Tost has admitted he was impressed with what he saw.

The Red Bull driver academy has been under added scrutiny recently, especially when Nyck de Vries was let go and Daniel Ricciardo injured his hand.

Liam Lawson benefitted from his absence and drove superbly, but several other young drivers are attempting to make the step up.

AlphaTauri boss Tost praises Hadjar

Speaking about the young Frenchman, Tost said: “I don’t hope that this was his best day of the life, I hope that he wins races and championships.

“This shouldn’t be the best day of his life. No, he did a good job, I must say. We were all impressed by him.

“He was calm when he went out, he was out with three different sets of tyres, the prototype tyre, the Medium and the Soft.

“And with all these different compounds, I must say that he really did a good job.

“His technical feedback was also quite good because if you compare it to the data there is a very high correlation.

“We are really impressed and I think that he will be soon in Formula 1.”

Hadjar has quickly jumped up the ranks in the junior formulas, spending just a year in both the Formula Renault European Championship and Formula 3 before stepping up to F2 this year.

His rookie season at that level with Hitech has been admirable, already achieving his first win and fastest lap.

Hadjar is currently 14^th in the driver’s standings and AlphaTauri boss Tost will want him to be challenging for the title next year if he has Formula 1 ambitions.

There may be a seat available in the team in 2025 if Sergio Perez leaves Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo steps up.

That would be the dream for the young Frenchman.