It might have looked like a barnstorming return to a Formula 1 cockpit, but for Isack Hadjar, it was more cautious than it appeared!
Isack Hadjar impressed in Azerbaijan, out qualifying Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen to start on the second row of the grid. He converted that start into a solid P3 finish, albeit with a drop of luck from Oscar Piastri’s unfortunate lock-up on Lap 39.
The Frenchman sat out the previous three races with a wrist injury, but undeniably made the most of his return.
“Yeah, I must say comeback at the right time in terms of injury point of view and at the same time in terms of what the car is capable of.” Hadjar said to media after the race.
“The way I left the car in Budapest, I was not really satisfied. And coming back now after a couple of races, definitely made a step.
“So yeah, definitely happy about that. And in terms of the approach, I took it really, really slowly the whole weekend because it’s a demanding track to come back to. I don’t want to be in the wall.
“And yeah, like I said, it’s a tough track to come back to. The approach was great. It brought me to that P3.
“So yeah, I can’t really do much better than that.”
Baku podium will give Hadjar confidence for Sepang
Formula 1 heads to Malaysia next weekend for the Bahrain Grand Prix. When asked if his Baku podium would give him confidence for the following race, Hadjar answered with a resounding yes, citing it as feeling like a first genuine top-three finish after his first in Monaco, which he lost and suvsequently regained from Pierre Gasly after a lengthy appeal process.
“Yeah, a lot,” he said. “You know, in the end, the Monaco podium, of course, it was a podium, but it was not on pure pace, not because I qualified on the top three or whatever.
“You know, I felt like, you know, like this is my first time with the team that I actually get to do a very clean weekend and actually like fight my way into that podium.”
“So actually, for me, it feels like a real first. And yeah, it gives me good confidence heading into the next races.”
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