From thinking life was over to over the moon – Hadjar's podium redemption

Isack Hadjar says he's gone from thinking his life was over at the first race of his Formula 1 career to over the moon at his first podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar crashed out on the formation lap at the opening round in Melbourne and was in tears as he walked back to the paddock in Australia. From that low moment in March, Hadjar experienced his highest high so far as he scored a stunning podium at Zandvoort, retaining fourth through the majority of the race before gaining a place when Lando Norris retired.

“After what happened in Australia, in the car, obviously, I thought my life was over,” Hadjar said. “But then, actually, you realize that it can happen and you bounce back very quickly from that. 

“Then to have a podium without too many miracles and not much going on ahead, no, I didn't expect it, especially that fast in the season. Already finishing fourth on pure pace would have been a mighty, mighty result. But, yeah, finishing third is just … over the moon.”

Hadjar impressively qualified fourth on Saturday, but admits he wasn’t dreaming of a podium overnight as he had no idea if he could keep the Mercedes and Ferrari cars behind him at bay.

“An outstanding day," he said. "I did not expect that waking up this morning. I was being very realistic. I knew there was George [Russell] behind me and both Ferraris. I also didn't run on Friday – any long run – so I didn't have a clue really. To cross the line third is just unreal.

“It was very tricky. Thankfully, I had an OK start to keep fourth. From there, on the opening laps, I knew Charles [Leclerc] would be trying to go for the move, which he did. I was really comfortable, and on the brakes I made sure I defended the right way.

“Then once I was holding him for a while, I actually realized that, ‘OK, we have the car pace to fight for big points.' Toward the end of the race, I was like, ‘OK, if anything happens at the front, actually, I'm in a podium finish position,' and that's what happened.”

The result was not only Hadjar’s first, but the first under Racing Bull’s guidance from Alan Permane as a team principal, and he was full of praise for his driver’s handling of the opportunity.

“Amazing. It’s been a hell of a weekend and a really fantastic race,” Permane told SiriusXM. “Of course, I’m incredibly proud of the team. The car worked well.

“I was not nervous [pre-race], but to beat the Ferraris and the Mercedes was a tall order. We had the pace and it actually became quite easy. It was stay in front, pull away from Leclerc a little bit, fit the next set of tires and go, and again create a gap. A brilliant race.

“Great from Isack – superb performance. He did exactly what we asked of him. There was some tire management early on with the one-stop when we were looking after things, and he did everything we asked of him.

“You always get a little bit nervous – you saw what happened to poor Lando [Norris] in the final few laps. Anything can happen, so there’s always that. I wasn’t nervous that he was going to do something crazy or throw it off the track or anything like that, but you never know. Especially when there’s a podium in the offing, it’s always a little bit stressful, but I tried to enjoy it as well.”