Hadjar rescues points after frustrating Barcelona F2 Qualifying
In the end, we got some really good points for P5. 13 points in a weekend where we started 11th in both races is really strong
Written by Peter Clifford | Layout: Oliver Schran
3 min readPublished on
Typically Isack Hadjar makes no excuses for a missed opportunity and accepts that a perfect Barcelona Qualifying would have set up a far better weekend. The 19-year-old French Red Bull Junior did put in two impressively strong drives to keep his F2 championship challenge healthy. He stands 2nd, just 9 points off the lead after 12 of 28 races.
Pepe Martí was pushed off the track by a first-corner incident in the Feature Race but the19-year-old Spaniard also had two good drives and snatched 2 points after Qualifying frustration.
Isack Hadjar always pushing to the max
“Qualifying was looking great, we were quickest on Set 1 by a tenth and a half. I felt really comfortable with the car and, I don't know, it feels like we did everything we could not to put it on pole that day.”
“In the second run there was a mistake from my side, plus some traffic, I hit the limiter, it was a total mess, more my fault than anything. I was ready to deliver, the car was strong. Just a shame. That's how it goes, our worst Qualifying of the year.”
Isack Hadjar on his way to 5th position in the F2 Feat. Race
“The Sprint Race, from 10th on the grid there was not much we could do, I knew it would be a DRS train. But I had a good start, then I hurt my tyres behind Antonelli and by the time I got past him, I had no tyres left. But that was my bet, so then I got overtaken by Jak (Crawford). I lost a position but after penalties, I managed to get P6.
Today, we stood on the normal strategy, like the leaders. I had an amazing start on the soft, gained like 5 positions.
“The pace on the option was really rough, the rear tyre deg was huge for me. Then we extended too long on that stint I felt, it cost us so much time. The stint on the prime was really good, I think we were maybe 3rd quickest, passed Maloney and Bortoleto.”
“In the end, we got some really good points for P5. 13 points in a weekend where we started 11th in both races is really strong. But for next weekend we will make sure to hit Qualifying right and that will make life in both races a lot easier.”
I can't wait to be at the Red Bull Ring, a track I really like. Let's do it.
“The weekend was quite tough, we started the weekend well with a strong showing and pace in FP. Unfortunately, we suffered a lot in the first stint in Qualifying which damaged the end result.”
In the Sprint Race, we got boxed in at the start and then couldn’t overtake as it is hard to do so here in Barcelona.
“In today’s Feature Race, we managed to avoid an incident happening in front of us at the start and then stayed out long on track to take advantage of a better soft tyre at the end. Our strategy and race plan were rewarded with great pace in the second stint coming up 6 places to P9 with the fastest lap.”
Looking forward to Austria to continue growing and improving.
