Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson look back on their British Grand Prix retirements
A day to forget for Racing Bulls at the British Grand Prix, with Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar retiring, while several mid-grid rivals scored big points.
Two withdrawals for Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson was the first to leave the race after a collision with Esteban Ocon’s Haas on the first lap. The stewards deemed the incident a racing incident. The Frenchman was able to continue, but the New Zealander had to retire immediately.
Isack Hadjar, on his side, had avoided the chaos of the first lap by pitting at the end of the formation lap to fit slick tires, just like George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Ollie Bearman, and Gabriel Bortoleto – a strategy that quickly proved to be the wrong one.
After a safety car period, Isack Hadjar found himself behind Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes. But as soon as the safety car returned to the pits and the race resumed, the rookie collided with the rear of the Mercedes, retiring on the spot.
Running in these difficult conditions is always a gamble, explained Isack Hadjar after the incident.
At the beginning, I was following Charles [Leclerc] and we had a good pace; we were on the same strategy, but it wasn’t the right one. During the laps behind the safety car, I could barely see anything because of the rain, and the tires lost temperature. After the restart, I would have liked to give a bit more space, but when I saw the red light at the back of Kimi’s car, it was already too late, I couldn’t see anything at all. Fortunately, I’m okay, he explains.
The accident also resulted in the retirement of Kimi Antonelli, but both drivers emerged unscathed from a crash that could have been much more serious.
Read also: Isack Hadjar leaves the British Grand Prix after a collision with Kimi Antonelli
A missed opportunity
Liam Lawson also emerged unscathed from his collision, but expressed his disappointment at a missed opportunity for the team at Silverstone.
« It’s a shame, I think we had a very good car today, and in a race like that, anything can happen, » he stated.
« It’s an opportunity we let slip by. I wasn’t trying to be aggressive, I just got a good start, an opening appeared ahead of me, and I just wanted to survive the first lap », he declares.
After this double retirement, Racing Bulls drops from 6th to 7th place in the constructors’ championship, overtaken by Sauber. The team now finds itself tied on points with Aston Martin, which scored with both its cars.
