Isack Hadjar believes “Ayrton Senna was the fastest, but Lewis Hamilton is the greatest”. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar shared his view on the key differences between Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton.

Senna and Hamilton: the differences according to Hadjar
Isack Hadjar, one of this season’s rookies and born in 2004. Given his birth year, the Frenchman never had the chance to witness Ayrton Senna’s races live—the Formula 1 legend and three-time world champion who competed in the late ’80s and early ’90s before his tragic death at Imola in 1994. Nevertheless, the Racing Bulls driver has always held the Brazilian in high regard, to the point of considering him the fastest driver in F1 history, regardless of whether the track conditions were dry or wet.

The fastest, then—but not the greatest of all time. In that regard, Isack Hadjar praised the talent of his idol Lewis Hamilton, who, interestingly, always idolized Ayrton Senna himself. Speaking on the official Formula 1 podcast, Beyond the Grid, Isack Hadjar explained what he sees as the differences between the two: “For me, Ayrton Senna is the fastest driver of all time, but the best driver of all time is Lewis Hamilton, the best overall in Formula 1. But the fastest, without doubt, is Ayrton, whether it’s dry, wet, or mixed conditions—it’s him,” he reiterated.

“If you look at last year, Sundays are all about race pace,” he added. “The way Lewis can start 18th and still end up battling George, who started much higher up, the advantage he has in race pace compared to his teammates, the way he has to overtake when he’s in the pack, the different lines he uses to avoid dirty air—his Sundays are very strong. I don’t think any driver hangs out with Lewis. I think you can get along, but the age difference is considerable. We talk a lot, and sometimes I ask him questions I wish I could’ve asked four or five years ago, when he was dominating Formula 1. Now I have the chance, and I can talk to him. We talk about football, especially when Arsenal or PSG are playing.” – the French and Algerian racing driver added.

Outside of Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton, Isack Hadjar also draws inspiration from two other world champions who are currently on the grid: “I take Max Verstappen as an example,” he concluded. “I think the most impressive thing this year is qualifying. Q1 and Q2 are fine, but on the first attempt in Q3, even if he’s not a pole contender, with his experience and talent he can extract that little bit more in that final lap. The most impressive thing is how, under pressure, he finds that extra bit, executes everything perfectly, and at this level, finding three tenths is truly incredible. I don’t analyze Max too much because he’s not a rival right now, so I mostly look at the midfield cars—Williams and Fernando Alonso. I think Max is the benchmark at the moment. I can’t access his data; all I can see is what everyone else sees—his GPS—but nothing beyond that.” – the Racing Bulls driver concluded.