Isack Hadjar and Theo Pourchaire are the next rookies to be confirmed to be receiving a practice outing at this weekend’s Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.

The regulations stipulate that every driver in each team has to give up an FP1 session for a rookie, defined as a driver who has started no more than two grands prix.

AlphaTauri handing Nyck de Vries his F1 bow this year counted on one side of the garage, but Liam Lawson filling in for Ricciardo, who replaced the Dutchman mid-season, did not.

Yuki Tsunoda is required to sit on the sidelines in the opening practice hour once across the remaining rounds and AlphaTauri have announced he will do so on Friday in Mexico.

Hadjar will get behind the wheel of an F1 car for the first time when he drives the AT04 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The Frenchman currently lies 14th in the Formula 2 championship, the lowest of the Red Bull-backed drivers. He has notched one podium with eight further points finishes.

Red Bull’s senior team are yet to field a rookie in either of the cars occupied by Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez. But it’s rumoured that Hadjar will get to drive the title-winning RB19 alongside reigning Formula E champion Jake Dennis in FP1 at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo have confirmed that reserve driver Theo Pourchaire will also replace Valtteri Bottas at first practice in Mexico.

Pourchaire, 20, currently leads the way in his third campaign in Formula 2, 25 points clear of Frederik Vesti with only one round in Abu Dhabi remaining.

Vesti, a Mercedes junior driver, will also be granted an opportunity in the W14 this weekend, standing in for George Russell.

Elsewhere, Haas will run Ferrari Academy prospect Oliver Bearman, while Alpine revealed last weekend that Jack Doohan will receive outings in both Mexico and Abu Dhabi.

Bearman has won four races in his rookie season in the second tier to reside in sixth place, seven points behind Doohan, who has progressed to fourth with a late-season charge.

Isack Hadjar hopes his rookie season in Formula 2 will also be his last, as he targets a swift step up to Formula 1 in 2024.

Being one of six Red Bull juniors on the Formula 2 grid this season, Hadjar will likely face tough competition for any potential seat in F1 – from fellow rookies Zane Maloney and Jak Crawford as well as F2 returnees Dennis Hauger, Enzo Fittipaldi and Ayumu Iwasa.

Nevertheless, Hadjar is confident about the season ahead with Hitech GP off the back of a successful rookie campaign with the team in FIA Formula 3, where he finished fourth in the championship. 

“My goal is to just have a really strong season and step up to F1,” Hadjar told Formula 2. “It would be great to just spend one year in F2, that would be ideal and then go to F1. That’s the main goal, so we’ll give it everything.

“I’m really excited, even if I knew I was stepping up since last year already. I’m excited to start the season with the same team. I know the team very well, I’ve done Asian F3 and Formula 3 with them, so I’ve put hours of work in with the guys.

“Now stepping up to F2, it feels quite familiar. To work with the same team, it feels quite normal and I’m happy to not move anywhere else – it feels like I have an advantage with that, so that’s great.”

All Red Bull juniors will have their sights firmly set on a potential AlphaTauri seat available for 2024, with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries out of contract.

Hadjar sounds optimistic about the challenge that will face him at the opening round in Bahrain next month.

“F2 is really tough, even really good drivers take a few rounds to get their head into it. I think it’s a tough car to understand and the pit stops that are being introduced, and also the strategies, whereas in F3 it was just about pushing from the start to the end. 

“Now, I think tyre degradation is the main limiting factor. Obviously, I won’t be 100 per cent ready for the first round because there’s not enough testing, but I hope to understand everything quite quickly to be fighting for race wins.”

Hadjar, who has been a Red Bull junior since 2022, spent time in Formula 2 machinery as he tested with Hitech in Abu Dhabi last November, but he noted that his lack of experience at tracks such as Jeddah and Baku could be a weakness in comparison to several of the returning drivers.

“In testing, the first two days were quite tricky, I was a bit far off. Then on the third day for some reason I was quite competitive. I found the car in the end to be quite similar to the F3 car in some ways, so I was feeling quite comfortable and felt great in the F2 car, so I think we’ll be quite competitive straight away.

“I’m really excited to go to Melbourne, and I don’t have any disadvantage going there because no one knows the track yet, but going to Jeddah or Baku where you have drivers like Théo [Pourchaire], Jack [Doohan] or Ayumu who already know the track, I think they have a pretty big advantage.”

Isack Hadjar took his third race victory of the 2022 Formula 3 season, as he dominated a Feature Race in difficult conditions in Austria.

Rain pelted the circuit prior to the start of the race, with Race Control opting to start the event behind the Safety Car. After drivers grasped the conditions, they were released, with Victor Martins putting pressure on Hadjar for the lead.

Hadjar withstood the pressure throughout the opening laps, and soon began to pull away from the rest of the field.

The pack was neutralised late on when Charouz Racing System drivers Zdenek Chovanec and Francesco Pizzi collided for the second time in the race, causing a Safety Car. However, Hadjar controlled the restart and was untouchable all the way to the chequered flag.

Martins had to settle for second place, and is now just one championship point ahead of Hadjar in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. Oliver Bearman took the final place on the podium, his second third place finish in three races.

Arthur Leclerc just missed out on a top three finish in fourth place. He was challenged late on by Kaylen Frederick, however the American collided with Roman Stanek late on and sustained a puncture.

Zane Maloney was fifth at the chequered flag ahead of Trident team-mate Stanek. Francesco Colapinto, who ended the Sprint Race on the podium, was seventh.

Alexander Smolyar was eighth and the sole MP Motorsport car inside the top 10, ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo and Ido Cohen.

Formula 3 will return at the end of this month for round six at the Hungaroring, before the August summer break.

Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar has taken pole position for Sunday’s Feature Race in Austria.

The Formula 3 Championship headed to Spielberg for the fifth round of the 2022 campaign, which signals the halfway point of the season.

Hadjar became the fifth different pole sitter in as many rounds when he ended the session as the fastest driver, setting a 1:19.759 in his Hitech Grand Prix car.

The session ended under a red flag when Zdenek Chovanec stopped at the side of the road after the exit of Turn 1.

Hadjar was just over two-tenths of a second ahead of French compatriot and current championship leader Victor Martins.

The PREMA Racing duo of Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc were third and fourth respectively.

Kaylen Frederick was fifth, while Roman Stanek, who dropped from second to fourth in the Drivers’ standings after last week’s round at Silverstone, rounded out the top six. 

Stanek’s Trident team-mates Jonny Edgar and Zane Maloney were seventh and eighth on the timesheet.

Franco Colapinto was ninth, while Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10.

Caio Collet will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from reverse grid pole position as he qualified in 12th place, and will have Juan Manuel Correa alongside him for company.

Saturday’s Sprint Race will get underway at 10:35 local time.

Isack Hadjar took his second race win of the 2022 Formula 3 season after making a late-race overtake on Victor Martins.

Starting from fourth place on the grid, the French driver quickly moved past Kush Maini for a spot on the podium and set his sights on Reece Ushijima and Martins ahead.

On lap eight, Hadjar overtook Ushijima for second place, with the Van Amersfoort Racing driver falling further in the order after losing the lead to Martins on the opening lap.

Hadjar pursued Martins and closed up to the rear of his compatriot, however the race was interrupted by a Safety Car following a collision between the Charouz Racing team-mates of Laszlo Toth and Zdenek Chovanec.

When the Safety Car ended, Hadjar continued his chase on Martins, and progressed past the Alpine academy driver on the penultimate lap.

Martins kept himself in front of Ushijima at the finish line, collecting more valuable points to add to his championship-leading tally.

Ushijima secured his first podium result of the year, with his only other points coming at the last round in Barcelona.

Maini was fourth for MP Motorsport, ahead of Kaylen Frederick and Roman Stanek.

Zane Maloney was seventh, and led the PREMA Racing trio of Arthur Leclerc, Oliver Bearman and Jak Crawford, who rounded out the top 10.

Sunday’s Feature Race from Silverstone will get underway at 08:35 local time.

Isack Hadjar will make his debut in the FIA Formula 3 Championship this year, joining Hitech Grand Prix.

Hadjar, who was a recent addition to the Red Bull junior programme, will also race for Hitech in Formula Regional Asia prior to the F3 campaign.

Last year, Hadjar raced in the Formula Regional European Championship and ended the season fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.

His most successful season of single-seater racing came in 2020, when he ended the French Formula 4 campaign third in the standings.

“I am really happy to race with Hitech for a full campaign in FIA F3 and Formula Regional Asia,” said Hadjar. “I’m excited to see what we are able to achieve together and be working with a new team as I make my step up.

“There will be a lot to take in and plenty to learn, but I am ready for the challenge! Thanks to Red Bull for their support.”

Hadjar is the first F3 driver confirmed to the Hitech team for 2022.

Last year, Hitech ended the F3 season sixth in the Teams’ Championship, scoring a single victory across the campaign.