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Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar Show Resilience at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Isack Hadjar has remarked on the seamless transition of his Racing Bulls Formula 1 teammate, Liam Lawson, back to the Faenza-based team following his recent demotion from Red Bull. Lawson’s performance during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix underscored this adaptation, as he bested Hadjar in qualifying for the first time, clocking in at just 0.010 seconds quicker in Q1 and 0.227 seconds in Q2.

During the race, Lawson ultimately crossed the finish line in 11th place, though he initially appeared to be closer to Hadjar, trailing him by a mere 1.4 seconds. A 10-second penalty for an incident involving Jack Doohan at Turn 2 negatively impacted his final standing, pushing him behind Fernando Alonso in the classification.

“This weekend he was really, really fast,” Hadjar commented on Lawson’s speed, noting that Lawson was effective at leveraging the car’s capabilities. This increased competitiveness is reminiscent of Lawson’s previous teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, who also challenged Hadjar’s pace.

Lawson’s race strategy mirrored that of the majority, featuring an initial stint on medium tires followed by a switch to hards. However, this approach did not yield the expected results, as he struggled to improve his position during the race. Initially positioned in 12th, Lawson managed to overtake prominent competitors, including Alonso and Esteban Ocon, but found himself unable to advance significantly from his original placement.

“Unfortunately, my [strategy] didn’t work today; we spent the race overtaking cars,” Lawson reflected. Despite his efforts to create a gap from Alonso, the outcome left him yearning for better fortunes, as he acknowledged, “It’s a shame we just ended up on the wrong end of it today.”

Despite a challenging start to the season and difficulties during his two races with Red Bull, Lawson expressed confidence in his current performance and alignment with the Racing Bulls team. He characterized the Saudi race as the fastest he has experienced so far, although he recognized the need for further improvements: “I think so. Obviously, we didn’t quite have the speed of the top teams yesterday, so we’ll try and work on improving this for Miami.”

On a more positive note, Hadjar described his race as “perfect,” as he secured a 10th place finish while using an alternate hard/medium strategy. Despite this achievement, he expressed some frustration at being unable to pass Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon during the race’s closing laps, despite having fresher, softer tires at his disposal.

“It was a perfect race, and to get only one point is a bit… harsh,” Hadjar commented, acknowledging the challenge he faced once the two Williams cars appeared ahead of him post-pitstop. Reflecting on his journey, particularly after his disappointing exit at the Australia season-opener, Hadjar credited his strong dedication to racing. “I just love it so much; I’m just committed to it. That’s why a tough hit like Melbourne is not enough to bring me down, because I love driving and giving my best.”

Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Mark Mann-Bryans

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