Hadjar disappointed by his Sprint strategy “We ate the tires very quickly”

From ninth place on the starting grid, Isack Hadjar could certainly have hoped for a better outcome. While the rain arrived as a surprise guest at this event, the Frenchman had the opportunity to experience these conditions for his first season in Formula 1, who had been forced to abandon the training lap in Melbourne.

Ultimately, the start of the race went off without a hitch for him, but also without a rhythm in the middle of a tightly packed pack. His teammate Liam Lawson, who had started from 14th position, for example, finished the first lap ahead of him thanks to a much better start from the New Zealander.

Excessive caution for Hadjar?

Speaking to Canal+, Isack Hadjar looked back on this first race negotiated in wet conditions, giving rise to some unusual choices for him. "I took a bit of a margin because in the end it was the first time I had done a race in the rain with the inters, I had never ridden them beforehe recalled. It was a bit complicated. We lacked traction at the start. I already lost a place on Alonso and right after on Liam, and after honestly, the rhythm was not good."

After this costly departure, the Racing Bulls driver also paid the price for a strategy that was difficult to implement in a particularly tight time window. “We ate the tires very quickly, the track dried quickly and we pitted the least ideal lap since in the end, a lap later, we benefited from the Safety Car, and a lap earlier that's what Liam did and it was much better, he added, wearily. But that's how it is, I think there wasn't much to do, you just had to take the information."

Although these changing conditions are not yet a certainty for the rest of the weekend, the mistakes made this Saturday will theoretically no longer be permitted on Sunday. In the meantime, Isack Hadjar will have plenty to make up for in qualifying, scheduled for this Saturday at 22 p.m. French time.

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