Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen’s record, special praise for Isack Hadjar

Max Verstappen’s podium finish at Spa marked a new personal best for both him and his team. Overall, Red Bull Racing are proud of their performance over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend – both from Verstappen, who finished third, and from team player Isack Hadjar, who showed great resilience.

Team principal Laurent Mekies said after the race: “It was a strong weekend for the whole team. It was good to be in the top three in qualifying, but it’s even better to be there on race day and keep up the pace.” Max Verstappen had qualified strongly in second place, having received active slipstream support from his team-mate Isack Hadjar, who had to start well down the grid anyway due to a penalty. In both qualifying and the race, Verstappen was pipped to the post by championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who set the fastest time on both occasions. In the Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari also snatched second place. Verstappen therefore finished third – and Isack Hadjar fought his way up to sixth place.

Antonelli a cut above

Mekies: “As we said on Saturday, Kimi was probably a class above us today, but behind him Max was right up there. He was well on his way to earning second place, but then the VSC periods came along, and that cost us dearly. But that’s just part of the game.” For Red Bull Racing, the result of the Belgian Grand Prix marks two special milestones: “We’re delighted with our 300th podium as well as Max’s 130th podium.”

Hadjar’s best race yet!

Laurent Mekies also had special praise for Hadjar, who fought his way right up the field during the race, even though the omens were as bad as they could be due to his grid penalty. Mekies: “Isack set an extremely strong pace and fought his way up from 21st on the grid to sixth place. It was certainly his best race with us. It seems as though he’s taking another step forward every time. It’s great to have two very strong cars.” So, high praise indeed for Verstappen’s team-mate!

Overall, Mekies is satisfied with the current performance: “The team in Milton Keynes and at the circuit are working incredibly hard on all fronts to squeeze out even more performance, and we’ve been able to fight for the podium in the last three races. We won’t stop until we’ve found the last few tenths needed to start winning races again.”

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