Isack Hadjar’s first official F1 race start with the Racing Bulls team went well following a Q3 appearance for both the rookie and teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Hadjar’s Racing Bulls car was quick through his stint on medium-compound tyres and still fast following his first pit stop for the hard-compound tyres.
However, an overly conservative race strategy brought both Tsunoda and Hadjar into the pits, making the race a two-stopper for the team. This proved to be a bad call, as most of the grid opted for a one-stop strategy.
Following team orders
Due to a disastrous crash on the formation lap ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Hadjar had his first official Grand Prix debut for the Racing Bulls in Shanghai on Sunday.
Because of his lack of experience with the team, Hadjar believed he was in no position to argue strategy calls during the Chinese GP.
When asked about the two-stop strategy in a print media session following the race, Hadjar talked about the pace he found in the car during the race, and how he did not have the authority to challenge his race engineer’s decision.
“Nothing I could control. I just did my race, drove as fast as possible. I think my pace was really strong. I was able to stay behind cars and follow them really closely on equal tyres. So I think I drove a good race.”
The French-Algerian driver was very quick in his first and second stints. After dropping two places in the first two laps of the Chinese GP, Hadjar stayed within the DRS range of his experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda.
After pitting for hards on lap 13, the undercut proved successful, as Hadjar was able to chase down fellow rookie Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes W16.
Disaster struck for the Visa Cash App RB rookie when he was called into the pits on lap 34. The driver dropped from P11 to P15, removing him from potential battle for points.
The rookie accepted this strategy call despite his good pace on his 21-lap-old hard tyres.
“It’s my second race in the end. It’s my first full race in Formula 1, so I’m not going to invent strategy. If we say the plan is this, then we stick to it. It’s as simple as that. I’m not going to fight in race 1.”
Ruined potential for points
Hadjar was confident that he had the pace to finish in the points of the Chinese GP if not for the fateful strategy call.
When asked if they could have run the first set of hard tyres until the end, Hadjar replied that he believed they could have.
“That’s what the others did, and it worked.”
Due to the post-race disqualification of front-runners Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly, both Moneygram Haas F1 Team and Atlassian Williams Racing were able to take away double points from the Chinese GP.
These circumstances create opportunities for mid-pack teams to earn championship points. However, both Racing Bulls cars lost this opportunity, as they were not able to join the battle for points despite being on younger tyres.
When asked where he thought he would have ended up if not for the second pit stop, Hadjar stated that he believed he would be a points contender.
“If we pitted only once, we would have finished in the points. I think P7. That’s it.”
Going from a points battle with a Mercedes to coming out of the pits into the no-man’s-land of P15 was a hard pill to swallow for the young RB driver.
“When you know you are not fighting in the points, it’s not enjoyable.”
Late-race scrap with Doohan
After logging the fastest lap on lap 36 of the Chinese GP, Isack Hadjar closed in on Alpine rookie Jack Doohan.
The two drivers battled for more than ten laps in the late stages of the race, resulting in several bold moves from the young Australian driver as he defended very hard. Most notably, late breaking lock-up on lap 46 into turn 14 which forced Hadjar off the track.
Because Hadjar was ahead going into turn 14, Doohan outbraking himself earned him a 10-second time penalty, demoting him to P15 behind Hadjar after taking the checkered flag.
Hadjar commented on the incident, chastising the dangerous move from Doohan.
“I didn’t like it. When you have a driver that just outbrakes himself, and doesn’t make the corner just to stay in front, I just think it’s pointless to fight against him. He got a penalty, so I won the fight. All good.”
Doohan’s penalty, along with the triple disqualification of Leclerc, Hamilton, and Gasly, resulted in Isack Hadjar finishing in P11 in a race that appeared promising for points for so long.
