Isack Hadjar is determined to “give it everything” as he lines up in fifth for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the Frenchman hoping to score “big points” after a solid Qualifying for Racing Bulls saw both cars take top-10 grid slots.
After a tricky Sprint for the team earlier in the day – with Hadjar finishing outside of the points in P10 while Liam Lawson dropped down to P16 following a five-second time penalty – the Red Bull sister outfit enjoyed a stronger outing in Qualifying that saw Hadjar slot behind two McLarens and a Mercedes.
“It was one hectic session, to be honest!” Hadjar smiled afterwards. “I was honestly fighting the car so much, but we kind of put it all together at the end. It’s still not the lap I wanted, but honestly in these conditions I think we did a good job.”
Looking ahead to what might be possible in Sunday’s race, the 21-year-old is hopeful that the squad can take home a decent points score as Racing Bulls continue to fight for P6 in the close midfield battle of the Teams’ Championship.
“We’re starting in an interesting position just behind Oscar [Piastri] and ahead of George [Russell] – obviously they are faster cars,” Hadjar conceded.
“But we’ll give it everything, fight them at the start and then try and score big points – we need it.”
Lawson also reflected positively on the session after taking P7, with the New Zealander glad to bounce back from the Sprint.
“It was good,” Lawson said of his Qualifying. “I think the pace has been very, very good today, at least in Quali – we had a very tough race this morning.
“It’s positive, obviously we’re going to always analyse the details, and we lost a little bit of time in the lap and it’s definitely cost us a good few positions. But when it’s this close in these kind of conditions, I think probably everybody’s got that story, so a decent place for tomorrow.”
Like Hadjar, Lawson is aiming to add to the team’s points tally on Sunday at Interlagos.
“Try to score points – that’s the target, honestly,” the 23-year-old added. “It’s both cars in Q3 obviously which puts us in a good position, so we’ll definitely give it a good shot.”
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