Isack Hadjar was left to endure a “frustrating” Grand Prix at Spa as he dropped to the back of the field with a car issue, while team mate Liam Lawson delivered points with a strong drive to eighth place.
The Frenchman had looked okay in the initial stages, running in front of his team mate in P8, but as the track dried the team opted to call Lawson in first – when normally the lead car gets the preferential pit stop.
Pitting a lap later seemed to cost Hadjar, who dropped way down the order, but it soon became apparent that all was not right for the rookie, who was forced into a second stop despite his medium tyres not being that old.
That sent him to the back of the pack, where he stayed for the rest of a difficult Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Unfortunately, we had an issue with the car for almost the whole race and that made me lose quite a lot of lap time,” he explained, without going into any details over what exactly the problem was.
“We’ll review the reasons why, but I was aware of it whilst I was driving, so I just tried to make the most out of it, doing my best. It was very frustrating, as I felt like the car underneath me was working really well.
“It’s a shame for the team, as everyone has done an amazing job, and I think it could have been a double-points finish today after Liam’s result. I’m confident going to Budapest, so we’ll bounce back next week.”
For Lawson, his preferential pit stop brought him out in seventh – but he lost one place to a charging Lewis Hamilton. From there, he had the pace on the mediums to comfortably keep Gabriel Bortoleto at bay, for his second points score in the last three races.
And it was just reward after the frustrations in the wet at Silverstone, where Lawson crashed out at the start of the race.
“I really enjoyed today. Often in those conditions you just want to survive, so I’m very happy for the team and how everything came together,” the Kiwi racer said.
“It’s always tricky when you cross over to a dry tyre when it’s damp, but the car was fast and in clean air we had great pace. A lot of work goes into little details each weekend when the Championship is this tight, so now we need to keep the momentum rolling forward and make sure we enter the summer break on a high.”
Racing Bulls sit seventh in the Teams’ Championship, and are just two points behind Kick Sauber. Lawson’s points combined with Aston Martin failing to score mean they now have a bit more of a buffer to their rivals, to the tune of five points.
