Isack Hadjar claims his maiden F1 podium: "The pace was unreal"
- Chloe Buckley
- 22 hours ago
- 2 min read
Written by Chloe Buckley, Edited by Marit Everett
After just 15 races into his Formula One career, Isack Hadjar has claimed his first ever podium finish in Zandvoort. Starting fourth on the grid, the French rookie driver maintained his place for the entire race before moving up as a consequence of Lando Norris's retirement.
As he crossed the chequered flag, the emotions were running high. Over the the team radio, he said: "Oh my god! What? What have we done? The pace was unreal, mate. What a car."
Speaking about the race to the media Hadjar said: “Yeah it was very tough physically, it's a tough track especially after the break, then after the last safety car restart I was going full push.
“I knew I just had to nail that safety car restart to keep George [Russell] behind me. So yeah, there was a lot going on and I kept it cool.”
When asked about the car from today compared to Saturday’s qualifying, he said: “Yeah I mean in the end yesterday we brought the car in fourth on pure pace, so that means the car was able to do that and we did it. So why not have a long run as well?
“Obviously I didn’t run on Friday, I didn’t have any data so I didn’t have a clue, but it seems like we don’t need much practice.”
As for celebrating, Hadjar stated he has no plans. With Monza coming up next weekend, he’s in the racing mindset and will look to carry his momentum from today into next week.
Hadjar didn’t have the best start to the season. He didn't race in the season's opening round in Australia due to spinning out in the formation lap. But 15 races and 37 points later, he is on the podium and is only the second rookie this season to accomplish this so far.
In the drivers' standings, Hadjar now sits 10th,17 points ahead of his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson. He is also 25 points ahead of Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda.
Hadjar does not yet have a seat confirmed for 2026. However, after his performance in the Dutch Grand Prix and his proven consistency throughout the past few races, he could be a strong contender for the unconfirmed second seat at Red Bull.
