Isack Hadjar (5th) furious after the Bahrain Grand Prix: “What a stupid thing to do!”

Parisian Isack Hadjar put in a strong performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in Malaysia: initially third-fastest in qualifying, this was reduced to eighth on the grid due to the fitting of new engine parts and a five-place grid penalty.

During the Grand Prix, the 22-year-old Red Bull Racing driver fought his way up the field and, shortly before the end of the turbulent World Championship race, was in third place behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, having benefited from George Russell’s retirement.

Then, however, the two Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, overtook him as if Hadjar hadn’t released the handbrake in his racing car. What happened?

The Frenchman was furious after the Bahrain Grand Prix: “What a stupid thing to do!” he ranted. “After the last restart, I had no pace left; I knew straight away that something wasn’t right.”

As it turned out, the battery hadn’t been charging fully for a while, so Hadjar was powerless against the two Ferrari drivers. Isack continued: “I’ve no idea exactly what happened there. We’re losing a podium place because of something so daft – it’s unbelievable.”

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“Hamilton was initially 15 seconds behind me, but suddenly I saw him in my rear-view mirror. We need to find out what happened there. The first two laps after the restart were practically a write-off, then things stabilised again and I was able to drive faster once more.”

But that wasn’t Isack’s only problem. He went on to say: “Throughout the race, I had the impression I didn’t have full grip. I could even feel the lack of grip behind the safety car.”

Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies confirmed after the Bahrain Grand Prix that Hadjar’s car wasn’t performing as well as that of winner Max Verstappen. It’s possible that the Frenchman’s car was damaged when it ran through the gravel trap during the formation lap.