– In the first half of the season, Isack Hadjar was able to impress in the second Red Bull cockpit. There have not been six consecutive top-6 results in the second cockpit of the Red Bulls since Daniel Ricciardo. Consequently, the 21-year-old appears confident and emphasizes: “Honestly, I haven’t surprised myself this year.”
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That is his answer to the question of whether he was able to surprise himself in any way with his performance. After all, Hadjar performs better at Red Bull in the eyes of many experts than previous teammates. According to Ralf Schumacher, he is even closer to Verstappen, “than Max sometimes likes,” according to the wording of the six-time Grand Prix winner.
“I’m just driving at a high level,” said Hadjar, “definitely better than last year. That’s also normal because it’s my second season. I’m not really inexperienced, but I have improved a bit.”
About his teammate, Hadjar explains: “Max is especially impressive on Sundays. He is pretty good over one lap, but especially the way he manages a race is on another level. That’s exactly what I’m working on.”
Hadjar admits that getting started in the RB22 was anything but smooth for him. “In the first few races, I felt like I couldn’t handle the simple things,” he assessed. “The difficult things, like being fast, finding the rhythm, or not being too far behind Max, I managed very well.”
During the first race weekends, Hadjar also struggled with technical problems. Added to that were mistakes like his self-inflicted retirement at the Miami Grand Prix. Since then, Hadjar has been able to stabilize his form and sometimes even hold his own against his teammate.
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“It’s much easier when the car holds up,” explains the Red Bull driver. “Honestly, it’s easy to get results when [the car] performs. It’s good, but at the same time, I would like to race in a race where I can actually fight for the podium. That’s the next goal.”
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Hadjar achieved his best result in Monaco. Here, the Red Bull driver was classified fourth, while Pierre Gasly secured a sensational podium for Alpine. For days, it seemed as if Hadjar would inherit third place due to a time penalty for the Alpine driver, but the decision was reversed before the race weekend in Barcelona.
At times, Hadjar struggled to get used to the new power units and the associated energy management. “You have to get used to something like that first, but now we’re fully in control,” said the Red Bull driver.
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In the Drivers’ World Championship, Hadjar is in eighth place at mid-season with 68 points. He is 41 points behind Verstappen in the standings ahead of the race weekend in Zandvoort.
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