Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar delivered a standout performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, securing a hard-fought 10th place and adding to his growing reputation in Formula 1. However, the 23-year-old Frenchman was left frustrated, revealing that the tactical teamwork of Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon prevented him from climbing higher up the order and potentially securing a career-best result.
Hadjar, who started the race from 14th on the grid with hard tires, capitalized on early chaos, including a lap-one collision between Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda that triggered a safety car. His strategic overcut, pitting on lap 34 for medium tires, allowed him to leapfrog several competitors, including teammate Liam Lawson, and close in on the Williams duo in the battle for eighth and ninth. Despite his fresher, quicker tires, Hadjar found himself stymied by what he described as a “super-frustrating” situation.
“The Williams drivers were working together perfectly,” Hadjar explained post-race. “Sainz was giving DRS to Albon, making it impossible for me to get close enough to overtake. If they weren’t teammates, P8 was on the table quite easily. But it’s part of racing—we would’ve done the same.”
The Williams strategy was a masterclass in teamwork. Sainz, who finished eighth, deliberately slowed to keep Albon within DRS range, ensuring the Thai driver could fend off Hadjar’s advances. Sainz admitted the tactic was “tricky” on the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit, where DRS has a significant effect, but it secured a double-points finish for Williams, with Albon taking ninth. “It was tense knowing I couldn’t make a single mistake, but it was the right call to bring home this incredible result,” Sainz said.
Hadjar’s 10th-place finish marked only his second points-scoring result in his young F1 career, following an eighth-place finish in Japan earlier in the season. Reflecting on his performance, he hailed the race as “perfect” despite the outcome, noting the challenges of overtaking on fresher tires against a well-coordinated defense. “To be fair, I didn’t know points were possible on pure pace, and we managed to do it,” Hadjar said. “I had a few mistakes, but nothing costly, so I’m quite happy with my performance.”
The race wasn’t without its challenges for Hadjar’s teammate, Liam Lawson, who outqualified him for the first time in Jeddah but struggled after getting caught in the first-lap melee, forcing him off track. Lawson finished 12th, lamenting a strategy that didn’t pan out. “Unfortunately, we just ended up on the wrong end of it today,” he said. Despite the setback, Hadjar praised Lawson’s adaptation to Racing Bulls, noting that the Kiwi is “definitely pushing me” in a dynamic reminiscent of his previous battles with Yuki Tsunoda.
Hadjar’s pace and composure have been turning heads since his F1 debut, with commentators noting his mental strength after a challenging start to the season, including a crash on the formation lap in Melbourne. His ability to recover and score points in Jeddah, despite the Williams roadblock, underscores his potential as a rising star. “It was a really strong drive, maybe a bit better than Japan because there were more challenges,” Hadjar said, though he admitted that finishing 10th felt “a bit harsh” when a higher position was within reach.