Hadjar: « 8th place was possible without Williams »

Isack Hadjar scored a point by finishing 10th in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah. The Frenchman from Racing Bulls saw his ambitions for a better result hindered by the coordinated defense of Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.

An alternative winning strategy

Starting 14th, Hadjar bet on a contrarian strategy. While the majority of the field started on medium tires to finish on hard, the Frenchman and his team did the opposite, an approach that allowed him to extend his first stint and thus gain the advantage of softer tires in the last laps.

« We had a good start this time, the strategy was good and that was the goal. We were on an alternative strategy with the idea of extending, and that’s what we did. I didn’t know that points were possible, but we had a very good pace and we managed to do it », he explained.

Despite his fresher tires at the end of the race, Hadjar hit the Williams wall. Indeed, Albon (9th) and Sainz (8th) perfectly coordinated their defense to lock access to DRS, with the former taking advantage of the slipstream offered by his teammate to shield himself from the Frenchman’s attacks.

P8 was within reach.

Hadjar did not expect to be able to score points solely thanks to the pace of his single-seater, but the team succeeded, which he considered a great performance. A strong performance that nonetheless leaves a sense of unfinished business, because according to him, without the collaboration between the two Williams, 8th place was clearly within reach.

« The two Williams were in front of me after the pit stop and then they played the team game, Alex didn’t make any mistakes and if they hadn’t been teammates, we could have finished P8. Two experienced drivers helping each other, I think there was nothing I could do », regretted the young 20-year-old driver.

Hadjar, however, emphasizes the quality of his own race, even believing he was stronger than in Japan, where he had finished 8th: « It was a perfect race, and scoring only one point is a bit tough. It was a very good performance, maybe even a bit better than in Japan, because there were more challenges. »

Lawson in the rearview

His teammate Liam Lawson, although faster in qualifying, saw his race compromised by a 10-second penalty after a contentious overtaking maneuver on Jack Doohan. The New Zealander finished 12th, just behind Fernando Alonso.

Lawson is starting to find his footing within the team after his transfer from Red Bull. Hadjar also acknowledged his teammate’s progress and didn’t hesitate to commend it: “This weekend, he was really very fast. In qualifying, he got the maximum out of the car. He’s clearly becoming more and more solid, and he’s really pushing me, just as Yuki [Tsunoda] did as well.”

Despite the disappointment of not picking up more points in Jeddah, Hadjar remains positive, especially after the Australian episode where he had to abandon the race following a crash during the formation lap: « It’s the love of racing. I love it, I’m just fully into it. That’s why a setback like Melbourne isn’t enough to demoralize me », he explained.

With Miami in his sights, Hadjar now wants to improve his performance in qualifying: « We will analyze why our pace in qualifying wasn’t good. Miami will be interesting since it’s a sprint weekend. » An additional challenge for the drivers who will have only one practice session before qualifying.