Isack Hadjar delighted a sell out crowd of 25,000 fans at Circuit Paul Ricard on Saturday as the French driver returned home for his first appearance in France as an Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver.The 21 year old drove Red Bull’s 2011 championship winning RB7 during the Grand Prix de France Historique event at Le Castellet, parading the iconic V8 powered car around the historic venue in front of an enthusiastic home audience.
Hadjar, who won at Paul Ricard during his Formula Regional European Championship campaign in 2021, later joined Esteban Ocon in the “Fast and Famous” demonstration run featuring machinery from several Formula 1 eras.
The Frenchman also shared the track with Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Philippe Alliot and René Arnoux during the celebration of French motorsport heritage.
“Being here was the perfect day,” Hadjar said. “It was my home Grand Prix here in France and it was my chance to feel the support from so many fans today. I had a lot of fun, both on track and in the paddock. The roar of RB7’s V8 is iconic and it felt so light around this circuit which made for a lovely drive.
“The atmosphere was unreal, you can get so close to the fans and enjoy special moments with them. Coming here brought back a lot of memories from winning races in F4 and to drive around Paul Ricard in an F1 car was a full circle moment.”
An incredible event
Hadjar completed several demonstration laps around the 5.8km Paul Ricard layout before waving the French tricolour to start the event’s historic Formula 1 race.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the event highlighted the strong support Hadjar already enjoys in France: “Today has been an incredible event, it’s the first time Oracle Red Bull Racing have shown up in this way for the Grand Prix de France Historique and it felt like a really special occasion.
“Isack’s popularity here has been through the roof, you feel an extraordinary sense of passion from the French fans for their motorsport and Isack.
“He had a great afternoon having a good go on track against cars from so many different eras of our sport. Our heritage team and Showrun programme is so unique to Red Bull, it’s our way of bringing Formula 1 to those that haven’t been able to experience a Grand Prix atmosphere before and today they got that,” added the Red Bull boss.
Formula 1 heads to Canada next, It will be Hadjar’s fifth race for the Red Bull team. He will be looking to make amends for an unforced error that ended his Miami Grand Prix in the wall.