Damon Hill hails F1 rookie’s “emotional strength” after setbacks in 2025

1996 F1 Damon Hill has hailed Isack Hadjar’s “emotional strength” following several setbacks during his rookie year, saying “he’s actually surprised everyone”.

Hadjar has been one of the stars of the 2025 F1 season.

The Frenchman has scored points on four occasions and has out-performed teammate Liam Lawson consistently since Red Bull’s driver swap.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Hadjar, given his difficult first race in Australia.

Hadjar crashed on the formation lap in Melbourne ahead of the race.

The 20-year-old was devastated as he walked back into the paddock with his helmet on.

Hadjar was consoled by Anthony Hamilton, Lewis Hamilton’s father.

From that moment onwards, Hadjar hasn’t looked back, delivering impressive performances.

Even in Monaco, Hadjar responded from two crashes in practice to come away with Racing Bull’s best result of the year so far.

Speaking on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, Hill explained why he’s been so impressed with the Red Bull-backed driver.

“He has actually surprised everyone, probably not himself, but I mean maybe has surprised himself, I don’t know, but I’ve been impressed,” Hill said.

“I’ve been impressed by almost everything he’s done. I mean there was clearly the horrible thing he went through in Australia where he made a mistake and actually was in tears and had to be consoled by Anthony Hamilton and he didn’t have to be but he was.

“For a guy who was distraught, has he got the emotional strength to be a Formula 1 driver and so forth but he has been amazing since that moment and he’s been strong and to go round Monaco, biff it into the wall twice, take off the wheel and not be cowed by that and to put in a fantastic qualifying performance and race, well done.”

Is Hadjar destined for Red Bull?

Hadjar’s run of performances will undoubtedly lead to speculation that he could be paired with Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have struggled to get to grips with the RB21.

However, Red Bull might be reluctant to give Hadjar an opportunity.

All of Verstappen’s teammates since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure have struggled.

Red Bull dropped Pierre Gasly halfway through the season, and Alex Albon was sacked at the end of 2020.

Sergio Perez hung on to the seat for four seasons, but speculation about his future remained.

Red Bull will focus on improving their car and making it more drivable to avoid making Hadjar's task against Verstappen near-impossible, if he's promoted in the coming seasons.