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What Goes Through Isack Hadjar's Head During A Race? | The Fast And The Curious GOLD
What Goes Through Isack Hadjar's Head During A Race? | The Fast And The Curious GOLD
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About this episode
Isack Hadjar shares insights into his remarkable debut season in Formula 1, discussing the pressures and expectations of racing for Red Bull. The conversation highlights his unique personality, resilience after a challenging start, and the excitement of being the first Arabic driver in F1. Hadjar reflects on his podium finish and the inspiration he hopes to provide for young fans. The hosts, Betty Glover and Christian Hugo, delve into the dynamics of the Red Bull team and the upcoming season, emphasizing the potential for a supportive environment as he navigates this new chapter.
Cars:
Porsche Cayman
What a rookie season it was for Isack Hadjar: got on the podium, promoted to the Red Bull team for 2026 as Max Verstappen’s team mate, and TikTok sensation!
Betty and Christian welcomed Isack to the show back in September, one month on from his debut podium, and put your questions to him and got to learn more about the racer’s heritage, name pronunciation, and of course, love for yoghurt.
Each episode on the Fast And The Curious GOLD, we bring you the best chats over our three seasons with all the biggest drivers and names from the sport, shining a light on some of those top moments that you may have missed.
Visit betterhelp.com/fast to get 10% off and help you get into that more positive space for 2026.
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Concept
Formula One
"Isaac, we have a Formula One podcast. We've been going for a few years now."
Formula One is a top-level car racing series where specially designed cars compete in races around the world. It's famous for fast cars and skilled drivers.
Formula One is the highest class of international auto racing for single-seater formula racing cars. It is known for its high-speed races, advanced technology, and prestigious events held worldwide.
Concept
Formula 1
"Yeah, I really enjoy my F1 life so far. It's very cool, honestly. It's everything I ever wanted."
Formula 1 is a type of car racing that involves very fast cars competing in races called Grands Prix. It's known for its exciting races and advanced technology in the cars.
Formula 1, often abbreviated as F1, is the highest class of international auto racing for single-seater formula racing cars. It features a series of races known as Grands Prix, held on various circuits around the world, and is known for its high-speed competition and technological advancements.
Car
Porsche Cayman
"...the 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 on eBay."
The Porsche Cayman GT4 is a fast sports car made by Porsche. It has a strong engine and is designed to handle well on the road, making it exciting to drive.
The Porsche Cayman GT4 is a high-performance sports car known for its exceptional handling and powerful engine. It is part of the Cayman lineup, which is a mid-engine coupe that offers a thrilling driving experience.
Part
suspension
"the whole thing, with all of these parts that he found on eBay, performance brakes, suspension, body panels, the absolute works."
The suspension is the system in a car that keeps it stable and comfortable while driving. It helps the car handle bumps in the road and keeps the tires in contact with the ground.
The suspension system of a car is crucial for handling and ride comfort. It includes components like springs, shock absorbers, and control arms that work together to support the vehicle's weight and absorb road bumps.
Part
performance brakes
"the whole thing, with all of these parts that he found on eBay, performance brakes, suspension, body panels, the absolute works."
Performance brakes are special brakes that help a car stop faster and handle better, especially when driving fast. They are made to handle more heat and pressure than regular brakes.
Performance brakes are upgraded braking systems designed to provide better stopping power and heat dissipation compared to standard brakes. They are often used in sports cars and racing applications to enhance performance.
Part
body panels
"the whole thing, with all of these parts that he found on eBay, performance brakes, suspension, body panels, the absolute works."
Body panels are the outer parts of a car that you can see, like the doors and hood. They can be changed if they get damaged or if someone wants to change the car's look.
Body panels are the exterior parts of a car that make up its structure and shape. They can include doors, hoods, fenders, and more, and can be replaced or repaired for aesthetic or functional purposes.
Concept
restomod
"Your next Resto mod. That means restoration plus modification, if you didn't know."
Restomod means taking an old car and fixing it up while also adding new parts to make it better. It's like giving a classic car a modern upgrade while keeping its original look.
Restomod is a term used to describe a vehicle that has been restored and modified to improve performance or comfort while retaining its classic appearance. This approach allows enthusiasts to enjoy modern technology in a vintage car.
Company
eBay
"eBay has thousands of cars and is the largest online selection of vehicle parts and accessories."
eBay is a website where you can buy and sell many things, including cars and car parts. It's like a big online store where people can find what they need for their vehicles.
eBay is an online marketplace where users can buy and sell a wide variety of items, including cars and automotive parts. It is known for having a vast selection and competitive prices.
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Hello, welcome to the Fast and the Curious Gold.
Thank you, that was very good.
This is a celebration of some of our favorite moments from the last three seasons, but this
episode is including, well, it's just the last season gone because this driver was only featured
in this last season.
I'm Betty Glover.
This is Christian Hugo.
And I loved speaking to this driver because he is, well, he's something special.
Everybody has bigged him up.
Everyone says that he has smashed this season, but he's also really funny, isn't he?
He's very funny.
Quite unique aura about him.
He looks sometimes when he walks past me in the panic, he often looks stressed, and he isn't.
He's just got a quite business-like sort of, I'm going from A to B, a bit like my fiance.
He's very much like this.
Like, he's just like, go, go, go.
Isaac has that little bit of an aim about him where he looks in business mode, but
he's funny.
He's a unique character, and he's dealt with the pressure cooker of Red Bull well.
And he obviously, everybody, he came in and people said, this kid looks great, got off
to a disastrous start by crashing on the formation lap in Australia, and I was really
impressed with the way he rallied and recovered from that, really impressed.
And then since then has just shown huge pace and, you know, basically got the
better of Lawson.
You know, Lawson finished the season on 38 points, Hadjah finished on 51, a really,
really solid season for me, as at Hadjah, more than solid impressive, and he deserves
this promotion.
And I'm, it's one of the things I'm most excited for in 26 to see Hadjah in the
Red Bull.
Well, I was going to say, he's had an impressive season this year, but next
season is where he is really going to be tested.
He has got a big season ahead of him, hasn't he?
Do you think he's going to handle it well?
I do, because all these drivers, your ghastly albons, Sonoda's, all these
people have tried and Lawson and failed and give you up before that, you
know, in the, in the second Red Bull seat, Hadjah's got an advantage for
two reasons.
Number one, he's coming in at the start of a brand new rule set, so we'll be
learning together.
Number two, I think there's more of a belief about Hadjah within the Red
Bull camp than perhaps there has been other drivers.
But number three, the departure that we got at the end of 2025 of Helmut
Marco, the departure of Christian Horner in the middle of the season, it
is a new era at Red Bull.
And hopefully it's an era where drivers won't feel they're in a
pressure cooker so much.
It was brutal for those drivers and very few survived it, very few.
Those that did have success there were really, really special.
So what I hope for Isaac this year in this new era run by Laurent
Meckies is a bit more of an arm around the shoulder approach.
And I think they need to say to him, you've got time here, kid.
Go out, you know, might not make mistakes.
You know, Max is Max.
It's going to be tricky to get used to the new cars, but you've got
time.
And I think maybe he'll perform a bit better with an arm around the
shoulder approach.
And you've got time attitude rather than a deliver now or you're out.
And I think maybe in a post Marco Horner world, we might get that from Red Bull.
I'm excited to see what he can learn and what he can achieve alongside
somebody like Max Verstappen.
I think this could be brilliant for Isaac Hadjah.
Anyway, on that note, this is Isaac Hadjah on the Fast and the
Curious September 2025 Isaac has joined us enjoying some sort of
of yogurt, I think.
Is it a yogurt, Isaac?
Mm-hmm.
This is a mate.
Oh, it looks lovely.
Isaac.
Hello.
I'm Christian.
This is Betty.
Welcome to the Fast and the Curious.
Are you enjoying your yogurt?
Yeah.
I am.
So, Christian, one sec.
The man needs to eat his yogurt.
We can't start yet.
Wait, wait, one sec.
Okay.
I've never seen anyone eat a yogurt so fast in my life.
Also getting every last bit out of the yogurt pot.
It's like precision yogurt eating from a Formula One driver.
I'm going to extract every bit I can from this yogurt.
Always maximising.
Always maximising potential.
I love it.
Isaac, welcome to the Fast and the Curious.
Thank you.
Thanks for the invite.
Thanks for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Isaac, we have a Formula One podcast.
We've been going for a few years now.
We're lucky enough to speak to a lot of the drivers.
And we'd just like to get to know you guys,
have a little bit of a chat with you,
get to know your personality
and how much you've enjoyed the sport.
And it just seems like you're having a really lovely time
at the moment.
Would that be true?
Yeah, I really enjoy my F1 life so far.
It's very cool, honestly.
It's everything I ever wanted.
So I'm making the most of it.
You really are making the most of it.
We'll talk about that in a sec.
But first, I'm not sure if you're totally aware about this,
but there is fierce debate around the Paddock and online
about how you say your name Isaac.
Is it Isaac or Isaac?
Now, people are passionate about their views either way.
So how do you want to be called?
Honestly, I know my name is Isaac.
Isaac?
That's how I've been called my whole life.
But you know, I know Isaac is the British way
or English way to say my name.
So when commentators say Isaac
because they are English speakers,
honestly, I don't mind.
No, we'll call you Isaac from now on.
This often happens that people have really fierce opinions on it
and then you ask the person themselves
and they go, I don't really mind either way.
But we've established Isaac.
The second one is Haja or Haja.
Again, you can clear this up for us, Isaac.
Haja.
Haja. Perfect.
There you go.
Whenever this is a debate now, Isaac,
we can put this out and we can hear from the man himself
that this has cleared this up once and for all.
So thank you.
We hope that will settle the internet world of Formula One.
Isaac Haja.
Perfect.
Isaac, you have had a ridiculously good year so far.
Your first season in Formula One.
You've had a podium.
You're consistently in the top 10.
You look like you're having the best time ever.
But one thing that we did want to talk to you about
is that you've also become the first Arabic Formula One driver
and I know you've spoken a little bit about it before
but I just want to know that.
How does that make you feel?
You must feel so proud.
Yeah, it's...
I mean, it's huge to be the first ever
and I really feel like
such a big support as well as
alongside the French people.
I just feel so much more love and attention
from the Middle East people, North Africa.
So I think it's just awesome.
You said at one point nobody wanted to talk about it.
We really wanted to talk about it
because we think it's a really cool thing
and we thought it was really cool that you went out and said it
and sort of made a thing of it
and pushed your neck out to say,
no, I want to talk about this and raise this as a thing.
We thought that was really cool.
Yeah, I think it went a bit under the radar, to be honest.
I felt like it
but it's important to acknowledge my roots
and tell the world about it.
Does it make you feel quite happy
that you could be inspiring a whole group of young people
that are very similar to you, same background as you?
That's wicked.
Yeah, it is.
Especially this young, this early in my career
to be inspiring lots of young kids
who dream of making it to F1.
I'm in a really privileged position to be able to do that
at such a young age.
I think it's awesome.
We can't not get you on the podcast
and not talk about the podium.
I think it might be one of the happiest moments of my life.
You just looked so delighted.
I genuinely put a smile on my face.
You being happy just made me feel so happy.
We've only met a couple of times.
I was like, oh my God, this is just lovely.
How was it?
Being stood up there, knowing what you've worked for,
knowing you've been racing for such a long time
to have that moment of it all coming together,
how was that feeling?
It was quite unreal that day, I remember.
Now it's all gone.
But yeah, on that Sunday,
everything aligned pretty much.
It was definitely my strongest drive
and the car was at its best.
Everything clicked, really.
I didn't expect to have this podium
coming so early in my F1 career,
especially being in a midfield team,
fighting for points every race.
It's very precious.
To be on the podium this early
and doing it the way we did it,
we didn't benefit from chaos ahead.
It was really nearly unmerited.
So yeah, it was sick.
Now that you've had your first Formula One podium,
has it given you a taste for more, Isaac?
Do you want more? Do you want to go bigger and better?
You want to be on the top?
Yeah, it's...
When days like this happen, you're like,
okay, that's actually why I'm doing this.
It's actually the reason I'm driving F1 cars
is to be successful and standing up on the podium.
So yeah, you definitely want more.
I know this is a good start,
but I'm not here to just be around
and just be an F1 driver.
I want to be successful as well.
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Do you enjoy doing that often?
We see a lot of drivers
chilling on yachts and things
and you're hitting stuff.
Do you not at any point
want to stop and have a rest?
Do you guys never seem to stop and move?
My first sport
was never go-karts.
It was judo
when I was four years old
and I did 10 years nearly of that.
So I did 10 years of
judo.
10 years nearly of that.
Every time I'm in Paris
I call my old coach
and I keep training because
it's what I like the most
apart from racing.
In general, martial arts
also keeps you in shape.
It keeps you in shape
but it's also great for your mentality.
Do you do it as a way
from everything?
Yeah, it's good to...
It's like
I'm still very focused
and very competitive
and I'm just basically putting my focus
instead of putting my focus on just racing
24-7 because I can't
live without it
I put it on something else that I really love
so just switches
creates a bit more balance, I would say.
Was there a point where you had to decide
I'm going to be a martial artist
or I'm going to be a racing driver
and what tipped it towards racing?
Nah, to be honest
I think
I always love judo
but the first time I went in a go-kart
I was like this is it
I really
I really want to do that
it clearly was hard
to stop judo, to take it
to push it back
and put it on the side
it was definitely hurting
but yeah, motorsport
I always knew it was my thing
Are you one of those people that just
loves all sports? Because I know you also like
football, right? Are you a PSG fan?
I love football
I'm a PSG fan
but you know, I hate golf
I hate golf
I hate golfing
Oh good, that's refreshing
it's just refreshing because I feel like
all the drivers want to talk about golf
whenever you speak to the likes of Lando
he's the only Formula One driver in history
not to like golf, it's brilliant
Yeah, maybe, maybe I'm the first one
who doesn't like golf, I don't know
so that's refreshing
I bet
Talk to us a little bit about football
I'm not following PSG too closely
are they still winning absolutely everything?
I'm a Leicester City fan, Isaac
so I don't have to follow the Champions League
quite as closely, unfortunately
You had a big win in the Champions League
yesterday
Mm-hmm
Yeah, that was
I mean, to be fair
Liverpool
have a very strong team, Barcelona as well
like this is going to be
I feel like it's going to be
maybe harder than last season
but I think we got it
Yeah, I think you probably do have it
I think you've got it in the bag to be honest
PSG are insane
I watched them during the Club World Cup this summer
and you didn't win that so
We won't talk about that
We were very tired
We were very tired
Mm-hmm
Doesn't count
Yeah, yeah
Doesn't count, fair play
I think a lot of football fans will say Club World Cup doesn't count
What else do you do
away from F1
So I've read
that you can obviously speak French
that's your native language, English
but you can also, you're pretty decent Italian
Is that right?
No, no, no
I can understand Italian pretty well
pretty well, I can
I can
I can order food, you know, I can
find my way but that's, honestly, that's it
It's really natural
No, that counts, you can have that, that counts
I'm thinking if you can understand it
I think that's pretty decent
Yeah
Are you wanting to learn Arabic?
I gave up
on that because
I couldn't
learn it as a kid
so now it's too late
I mean, that's fair enough, you've got a lot on
You're quite busy, I think that's understandable
A bit, I'm slightly busy right now
Something that fascinates me as well
away from the track, Isaac
is manga and anime
Again, we've said you might be the only F1 driver
that doesn't like golf
Are you the only F1 driver who's into this
This has always fascinated me
as someone that's like
I like a lot of Nintendo
and Japanese animation there
This is not, it's a different thing
It's not a million miles away
What is it about that world that fascinates you
Well, how did you fall in love with that?
I love this
I just grew up watching anime
and, you know, it was
every time I was
going back to school there was
Dragon Ball on TV
and I was watching
and
since then, really, I
always loved it
and I still watch
daily animation
Japanese animation, so it's just
something I really enjoy
and I think Yuki is a bit into that
obviously
and he obviously
watches it without subtitles
so it's quite sick
but yeah, that's it
Does anyone else on the grid like anime?
Do you talk about it with any of the other drivers?
Yeah, Yuki
Yuki does
Yuki does a bit
but not as much as I do
but he's a bit into that
obviously
but I expected better from him
to be correct
You expected better from him
Yeah, he needs to be more into it
Who would you say your best mate is on the grid?
Definitely
Pierre and Yuki
I think it's quite straightforward
Yeah
Isaac, our listeners and viewers
were very excited about you coming on
We had loads of questions
We're running short of time
but I want to put a couple to you
This one is from Lins and Phoebes
and it's the question I was really keen to ask you
I think my favourite thing to
ever happen in Formula One
is RB's social media
I don't know what you think about them
but they make
the insta reels, the tiktoks
they make us laugh
so much
so Lins and Phoebes ask how do you feel about being the king
of F1 tiktok
Talk to us about this new life you've got
as a tiktoker and Instagram real star
because RB have just been smashing this
Yeah, it's definitely not an achievement
I wanted to
You know
it's not
what I came for in Formula One
but
at least I'm
as long as I'm successful and I see it's all that matters
so I'm happy
It's an added bonus
Yeah, and you are successful
they're brilliant, I think
I'm a lot older than you Isaac
I'm 34 so the fact that you're doing
very niche things
from the British version of X Factor
from 10 years ago
makes me very happy
but some of these you must have no idea
what you're being asked to say
What's that like?
Like sometimes it's
honestly I'm just trusting my guys
behind the camera because
I have no clue
I have no clue what I'm doing so
yeah
it's
it's quite funny at times
but sometimes like what the hell is going on guys
like sometimes I'm refusing to do stuff
because it's too
just doesn't sound right
Oh please don't refuse
because it's funny just as it's working
our listeners love it and I actually think
with you and Liam the way you bounce off
each other like this I think there's a spin-off career
here I think you two could be hosting like TV
game shows together and that sort of thing
I think there's an entertainment double act
being born here
Mara just one more listener question
before you have to go Mara says what is the
weirdest thought that you have had during
your race Isaac?
I have time to think about a lot of stuff
a lot of stuff
during your race
so
nothing really stands out most of the time
it's like where
like sometimes even logistic questions
like where am I sleeping the next day
what am I going to eat
what time is my transfer
like stuff like this because
sometimes a race can be very boring
so
you've got time to think about this driving
where am I sleeping
tomorrow
what am I having for dinner
yeah literally
January
welcome back to the Fast and the Curious it's lovely to see you
lovely to
to be here thanks for having me
it's the first time we've been on the podcast in person
and I don't know
I never know how aware you drivers are
of when you have like a social media moment
I remember exactly
go on tell us what do you remember
I have horrible wifi at that time
yes yes
and I had a yogurt
you see I remember this one
I didn't think you'd remember
actually you know what I kind of forgot about it
and I saw it on my feed
like the interview itself on my feed
so that's how I remember it
it's always
yes it fascinates us that the things that people
we spoke about all sorts of things
and people loved that you were so chill
that you were enjoying your yogurt and
there you were
it was a good yogurt
have you had any more good yogurt since
I think it was Baku was it
I can't remember
Christian
just asked you if you've had any more good yogurt
since
not that's good
this one was memorable
sorry
I'm just telling you
to talk into the mic
apologies for live production
not as good
what's the best food that you've
eaten in your first season on Formula One
is there a track where they serve you great food
Yuki
I think he had this departure
dinner he invited us in
Suzuka
so like V-Carb
and him
so he invited us over
like a very good Wagyu
so yeah he was a great
move from him
that sounds absolutely amazing
and did Yuki pay for it
he paid for it as well
he's a nice man
what a nice thing to do
speaking of which new team this season
new colours not just because
Red Bull have changed their kit into the fancy Ford style blue
how are you feeling about this move to Red Bull
racing then it must be a nice phone call to get
yeah it's
there's worst fun calls
I can tell you that
there's harder calls than that
so yeah it was great
I'm super excited
it's going to be a big big change
and I'm happy to make the switch
how did the phone call go
tell us about it
who exactly called you
did you know what they were going to say
it was really a phone call it was physical
I saw Helmut
we spoke
and he told me
he was saying hi
he was saying hi
so it was good news
but I kind of anticipated it
at the time
but still it felt
like a relief
we've obviously had the winter break
we've had a short winter break
but have you had any time to reflect on that first season
because
surely you must have had time to sit back
and go yeah that went well
because you reached the pinnacle
and then not everybody thrives at F1
but you know you did
yeah it's
it's hard to take a step back
to be honest
I kind of like fully disconnected
for like not even a month
but
I kept watching a bit
like what I've been doing
through the 25 season
like all the replays and stuff
to see what I could have done better
so yeah I kept an eye on it
mostly looking at the things that didn't go well
and
trying not to repeat the same mistakes
are you proud of yourself though
proud
no I don't think of
oh come on
no I'm not proud
I'm proud of myself
it's not a feeling I
you can sit there and be a professional sportsman
and go over the things that went wrong
fine but now you're among friends
you're on a relax podcast
you can be proud before then
you've got time before then
you've got a long time
what do you really want to achieve then
you've had your first season
you're now racing with Red Bull
what's the next thing for you
win
win races
like going on a race weekend
and knowing that
I'd be in ballpark to be winning that race
that's what every driver
on the grid wants
for that you need a lot of things to align
so
I think it could happen this year
it can be
of course if there's a season
we can win it this year
because
no one has a clue about
the performance of their cars
so
relative to the other teams
but also it can be a very tough one
does that almost scare you in a way
that you're going into a season where you just don't really have
any clue
it's obviously not nice
that you head into the season
and obviously the car is
what it's going to be
right it's nothing like
as a driver I can do to make it better
but
I can make it better through the season
guiding the team
in the right direction hopefully
with Max
so it's the first time for you I'm going to be
in the heart of such a big project
is it a good time to go into Red Bull
because we all know
people have struggled in the second seat at Red Bull
in the last few years you know it's been tricky for people
but you're going in when
it's new for everyone
do you think that helps
massively that's why I consider myself
very lucky
to get the move done now
because the other car is going to be
what it is and I'm used to
change teams every year
in my career in general
I've never stick to the same car
two seasons in a row even
when I stick to the same championship the car changed
so every year for me I know
it's in my approach
it's resetting expectations
and driving the best I can
the car I'm given
are you excited about driving alongside
Max for Stappen
have you got questions you want to ask him
what's your relationship like
it's
very inexperienced
against a very experienced
driver
so we see there's a lot to ask him
I'm going to make sure I make the most of his
skills
to learn
very privileged
is it in any way scary or daunting
because one thing I loved about you last year
is that you just looked like you were having fun
I remember interviewing you after a practice session
and you came and I was like that was great
and it was free practice too
but you still looked like you were loving it
which is great do you just focus on that
or are there any moments where you're like
I've got Max as my teammate that is daunting
how do you balance that
yeah I mean
I've never had a teammate like Max before
and you never will again
yeah exactly so it's
it's a question even I
can't really answer
of course it's
scary in a way because you're like
I'm finally going to see
what's the best
in the world feels like
so to compare myself against
the best at such a young age
it's definitely a challenge
but it's what I've been looking
for my whole career since I started
go-kart so yeah
it's a bit scary but it's
also so exciting
we've got to let you go but just
quickly what's one question
you want to ask Max
maybe like a little bit of a rogue question
is there anything
put you on the spot
it's the first random thing that comes to your head
how to navigate the
roundabout system in Milton Keynes
no I'm pretty good at this one
okay that's good
if I can hop in his jet
if I can hop in his jet
great question to ask Max for
to happen
millions of questions
next time you come on the podcast
forget yogurts we're going to check in to see
whether you've got a ride on the jets
forget the on track stuff that's the barometer of success
this season that's what we'll go with
when are you going to ask that
how do you ask that
nice guy come back to Nice with you
something like let's see
let's see if I'll schedule matches
I'll give him a call
I could hop in a ride
it would work
practically
fingers crossed for you
honestly your rise last season
was one of the joys of F1 2025
it was great to watch
so we honestly wish you all the best in this
Red Bull Second C
and I hope you continue to have as much fun as you did last year
it was so fun to watch last year
so keep on entertaining as we loved it last year
thank you guys
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