Last year, Isack Hadjar stood on the podium for the first time at the Dutch Grand Prix—and destroyed his trophy: that’s why he now has a special helmet design
Last year, Isack Hadjar celebrated his biggest Formula 1 success to date at the Dutch Grand Prix: The then-Racing Bulls driver finished third on the podium at the race in Zandvoort—and smashed his porcelain trophy during the subsequent team photo.
As a memento of this curious moment, which subsequently went viral on social media, Hadjar is racing this season with a special helmet design: The back features an illustration of the broken trophy, along with a cartoon depicting the Frenchman’s reaction to the incident.
The Royal Delft porcelain manufacturer confirmed at the time that a new trophy would be made, although Hadjar told Sky Sports F1 that he absolutely wanted to keep the broken trophy. “Honestly, man, I don’t even know where my trophy is—my broken trophy,” the Frenchman said at the time.
“I mean, the team’s probably taking care of it, I guess. I left it in good hands. I’ll get a new one, I know that. But I want my broken one. Where’s the broken one? That’s the question. Because the new one—we don’t care about that one, because it wasn’t part of Grand Prix history.”
“I want the broken one because it’s part of my journey to the podium,” Hadjar said clearly at the time, following his first—and to date, only—podium finish (he had to give up the 2026 Monaco podium). “The new one doesn’t smell like alcohol, like champagne and all that stuff.”
Since Formula 1 is visiting Zandvoort for what is likely the last time this year, not only Hadjar but also his teammate Max Verstappen will be racing with a special helmet design. It pays homage to traditional Dutch Delftware with its blue-and-white color scheme and intricate floral motifs.
In addition, Hadjar and local hero Verstappen will be wearing special racing suits this coming weekend in Zandvoort (see the full schedule here). And the chances that the Frenchman will make it onto the podium again this season are, after all, greater than they were last year.