Isack Hadjar believes he needs to “put it together when it matters the most” during a Formula 1 weekend having just missed out on points in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The French rookie was left a frustrated 11th in Budapest, having been unable to find a way ahead of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes in the closing stages.
It marks the fifth race in succession that that the 20-year-old has failed to finish in the points despite a positive start to his maiden campaign with Racing Bulls.
“So many positives to take,” said Hadjar when asked to reflect on his season ahead of the summer break.
“The car is there, I am fast, I just need to put it together when it matters the most. We’ve been very unlucky the last few races and there’s all signs to say that we’re going to have a good second half of the year, I’m sure.”
Hadjar qualified 10th for the race but admitted that Q3 was the only part of the weekend where he felt he underperformed, which in turn meant he was always stuck in traffic during a race where overtaking proved difficult.
“This weekend just feels so unfair because the other car scored points and we’ve been on it the whole weekend except when it mattered yesterday in Q3,” he said.
“Just a very frustrating race, the pace was very strong again but I was just being backed up by slower cars.”
Team mate Liam Lawson did finish in the points, making it four times in the last seven races, having improved on his P9 starting position to finish ahead of Max Verstappen at the chequered flag courtesy of a one-stop strategy.
“I think it’s been a pretty tough race,” he said. “It’s hard to time the pit stop when there’s this many cars on a small track like this.
“It’s always a bit nerve-wracking when you know it’s a very important part of the race but for us, our deg was really good and were able to have a strong race.”
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