On the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, back to square one in F1 mode for French driver Isack Hadjar

It is one of the three corners of his first season in Formula 1 that he is particularly looking forward to tackling.

After Suzuka, "the most amazing traditional circuit providing an incomparable thrill in a country (Japan, editor's note) that I love" ...

Before Interlagos, in Brazil, the homeland of Ayrton Senna, his "lifelong idol" where "the track is also superb" ...

Isack Hadjar will be shifting into high gear this week, from Friday to Sunday, on the legendary Monaco Grand Prix turnstile. The French rookie from the Racing Bulls team is approaching the event with stars in his eyes. "Free Practice 1 is going to be scary," he predicted a few weeks ago on Canal +. "In F2, the corners are already hitting you with such violence. Now, I can hardly imagine. It's going to be crazy!"

Monaco, for the Parisian native who picked up his first steering wheel at the age of 6 on a recreational karting track near Porte de la Chapelle, is also, and above all, a return to square one. Because Hadjar's career truly took off here, at the foot of the Rock, on May 22 and 23, 2021.

After two seasons of apprenticeship in the ranks of the French F4 championship, without winning the crown - 3rd behind two Japanese in 2020 -, he moved on to the revealing Freca, the Regional Formula Europe. Not just anywhere, since he joined the Vendée R-ace GP team, crowned two years earlier with a certain Oscar Piastri...

The first races, in Imola and Barcelona, ​​produced only one podium finish. Then came the Monaco round. Transfigured between Sainte-Dévote, Casino, Piscine, and Rascasse, the young Frenchman snatched pole position and masterfully converted the attempt. His commanding victory caught the eye of Helmut Marko, Red Bull's talent scout, who immediately invited him to sit opposite him.

A story he never tires of telling: "When I got the call from my manager, I couldn't believe my ears. My near future was dotted. The budget still needed to be completed. There was no certainty of being able to finish the season. So I crossed the city immediately to join Doctor Marko at his hotel. There, he told me that he appreciated my work. Especially the fact that I was one of the few who knew how to overtake in a championship where it was almost impossible to overtake. And he handed us a contract. Of course, we signed without a second's hesitation!"

And so he joined the powerful Austrian firm's champion breeding program. His stated ambition: to follow in the footsteps of his Norman predecessor, Pierre Gasly, to the top of the pyramid. Seduced by his temperament, his calculating nature, his analytical and reflective abilities, Marko nicknamed him "little Prost."

What's next? While Red Bull, true to its policy, doesn't place him in top teams, Hadjar is climbing the ranks. He made a name for himself in FIA F3 (4th with 3 wins in 2022), then had two contrasting campaigns in F2.

During the 2023 season, the setbacks piled up for the English Hitech Grand Prix. In Monaco, a breakdown deprived him of a prestigious victory that was within his grasp during the sprint race. The outcome was hollow: a podium finish, that's all! And the 14th place finish...

But the wheel turned last year. Within the Spanish structure Campos Racing, the leader of the French up-and-coming team, although still unlucky at times, racked up big points: winning in Australia, at Imola, Silverstone, and Spa-Francorchamps.

In the Principality, he distinguished himself in a different way. In a fraction of a second. An instinctive and incisive turn of the wheel to avoid a single-seater idling under the tunnel at full speed in fifth gear and at nearly 250 km/h. An incredible reflex!

The decisive final round, at Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), begins with a half-point deficit to the Brazilian leader, Gabriel Bortoleto. Unfortunately, the suspense is over before the start: the engine stalls on the grid due to a possible mechanical problem. One more!

The crown eludes him. Not the steering wheel he's dreamed of since the dawn of his career. At 20, Isack Hadjar is close to his goal. "Red Bull really believed in me from start to finish," says the first Frenchman to start in F1 since Gasly in 2017. "They don't just look at results. They have a 360-degree view of what's going on."

The Racing Bulls incubator seems tailor-made. Especially since the newcomer will be rubbing shoulders with two compatriots holding key positions: Laurent Mekies, team principal, and Pierre Hamelin, a seasoned track engineer who has worked with, among others, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, and... Pierre Gasly. These are the guides he'll rely on to explore this other world.

Initially, the objective was summed up in one sentence: "To be as consistent as possible, to limit weekends without."

The initial hiccup in Melbourne, where he was caught out by the soggy asphalt strip of Albert Park on the formation lap, did nothing to dampen his confidence or determination. Unaffected by the back-and-forth between Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson that stirred up the neighboring garage, Hadjar adapted rather well to the gigantism of F1. His early presence in Q3 attests to this: a brilliant 7th in Shanghai and Suzuka. And the first points scored in the process: 8th in Japan, 10th in Saudi Arabia, and 9th this Sunday at Imola.

Enough to impress the Faenza team's management, who highlighted "a debut that far exceeded expectations" , but also "a burst of speed from the start that was much higher than what could have been expected given his level of experience" .

And now? There is no doubt that the third wheel of the "French Touch" would like to make his mark again this weekend on a circuit where "the driver can make more of a difference than elsewhere" .

Back to square one...