Visa Cash App Racing Bulls rookie thrills French fans with RB7 V8 and celebrates breakthrough Zandvoort podium
France has its Formula 1 star. And on Saturday, thousands of fans packed into Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to see him.
Isack Hadjar, fresh from scoring his first Formula 1 podium at Zandvoort, returned home for a historic moment. The Visa Cash App Racing Bulls rookie drove an F1 car on French soil for the very first time, igniting Red Bull Motormania in a festival that mixed speed, stunts and fan connection.
Magny-Cours reborn as a festival
Magny-Cours last hosted the French Grand Prix in 2008. Formula 1 returned to Paul Ricard from 2018 to 2022, but the Nièvre circuit had been left off the calendar. On this weekend, it came back to life in a new form.
Red Bull Motormania transformed the track into a playground of motorsport disciplines. F1, MotoGP, drift, stunt and freestyle motocross came together in one of the most ambitious showcases France has seen in years.
Fans were treated to parades, time trials, crossover challenges and open paddocks. The barriers between categories dropped for a day, with motorsport in all forms presented side by side.
Thousands lined the fences. Families, hardcore fans and newcomers all had the chance to see F1 cars in motion again at Magny-Cours.
Hadjar at the centre
Hadjar was the headline act. Behind the wheel of the 2011 RB7 wrapped in VCARB colours, the French rookie let the V8 scream down the straights before lighting up the Adelaide hairpin with donuts.
For a generation that grew up only hearing F1 on television, the return of that Renault-built V8 was a reminder of what the sport once sounded like. For the kids pressed against the barriers, Hadjar was the link between that history and their future.
The 20-year-old’s season has already made headlines. His Zandvoort podium marked him out as more than just another rookie. At Magny-Cours, the response from the fans confirmed it. He is being embraced as the new standard-bearer of French motorsport.
Trophy moment with Buemi
The emotion carried into the paddock stage. Standing with former F1 racer Sébastien Buemi, Hadjar lifted his Zandvoort podium trophy again. The first of his career. This time in front of his home crowd.
The moment connected two milestones. A rookie breakthrough in the Netherlands, and a symbolic presentation in France. It felt less like a media exercise and more like a passing of the torch. Buemi, a veteran of Red Bull’s programme, standing with Hadjar, the young driver carrying it forward.
Showdowns with idols
The spectacle went beyond F1 laps. Red Bull matched Hadjar against two of his heroes.
First came Sébastien Loeb, the nine-time World Rally Champion, in the Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak. A head-to-head that placed two French sporting icons side by side.
Then Dani Pedrosa lined up with the KTM RC16 MotoGP machine for a time attack against Hadjar’s RB7. Different worlds, different machines, same track.
For Hadjar it wasn’t just theatre. These were drivers he grew up idolising, now sharing a stage with him at home.
Hadjar reflects on a unique day
“It was an unbelievable experience today in Magny-Cours at Red Bull Motormania,” Hadjar said. “Driving an F1 car in France for the first time in front of my home crowd was simply incredible. I definitely had fun out there. Furthermore, having the chance of racing against two of my childhood idols like Dani and Seb was fantastic and made an already memorable day extra special. I really felt all the warmth from the French fans.”
The start of something bigger
For Hadjar it was more than a demo. It was confirmation of his arrival. Rookie podium scorer. National hero. The driver who brought a V8 back to Magny-Cours.
Red Bull Motormania was billed as a festival. For Hadjar it was a landmark. A French rookie stepping into the spotlight, not in testing or practice, but celebrated as a race winner in the making.
This was a weekend that reminded France of its racing past while pointing to its future.
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