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MELBOURNE, Australia — Isack Hadjar has no lack of confidence going into his debut season at Red Bull Racing, despite having arguably the most difficult ride in Formula 1.
On the eve of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the 21-year-old French driver said he expects to win a race in his first season with the team while squaring up against teammate and four-time world champion Max Verstappen.
It seems incongruous for him to say it, given Hadjar is only going into his second season of F1 and Red Bull doesn't appear to have a major pace advantage heading into Sunday's race at Albert Park in Melbourne.
To add to Hadjar's challenge is that Verstappen has gone through four teammates in about 15 months.
One of them, Sergio Pérez, said in January that being Verstappen's teammate was "the worst job there is in Formula 1." Pérez was beside Verstappen for four years at Red Bull before being dropped at the end of 2024 with two years left in his contract. Pérez is returning to F1 this year with new team Cadillac.
Still, Hadjar is putting the off-track talk aside, saying the team is set to surprise everyone with the pace of the RB22 car.
"I would say I'm confident in our race car, what we can do in the race, a bit less probably on one lap pace," Hadjar told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. "But if we're going to surprise people it's definitely in a good way."
Hadjar said he was stunned by the competitiveness of Red Bull's new power unit, an endlessly complex technical project.
"I was very happily surprised with the reliability and driveability of the engine," Hadjar said. "I know that I can't make engines, but I know what it requires to make something smooth to drive. And to do it in 3 1-2 years, start the project so late and (then) make it so well is so impressive."
Also impressive is Hadjar himself, who came back from an embarrassing formation lap crash on debut during last year's Australian GP to score points at 10 of 24 races, including a third place at the Dutch Grand Prix, the fifth-youngest podium finisher in F1 history.
Hadjar will also benefit from having the same team boss, Laurent Mekies, who also made the step from Racing Bulls to replace Christian Horner at Red Bull last year in the aftermath of Horner's exit in the days following the British Grand Prix last July.
"Yeah, it's good, not much change for me," Hadjar said. "I know him (Mekies) quite well, made my debut in F1 with him, we had some very good moments. So, it's good not to step into unknown territory, so it's good to keep going on the way I started F1."
One change Hadjar has made is important — a geographical one. He moved from Faenza, Italy where he was close to Racing Bulls to London to be closer to Red Bull Racing's Milton Keyes operation. He'll need all the help he can get to take on Verstappen in the same team.
As always, Hadjar is confident and looking forward to the challenge.
"I'm just happy, at my age, to be able to see what it's like to be next to the best driver on the grid," Hadjar said, "with the same material and see what I can do, and just learn from him.
"Yeah, I'm just happy. And lucky."
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
