Isack Hadjar after his EL1 with Red Bull: "I was able to show more of what I was worth"

Should we see it as a pretty omen? This Friday, Isack Hadjar drove in a car champion, while waiting to find out if his Campos F2 would become one on Sunday. The Frenchman was in fact behind the wheel of the RB20 of Max Verstappen on the occasion of EL1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In the fight for the title in Formula 2, he alternated between F1 and F2 all day, which disrupted his usual bearings somewhat. "I had done it twice in the past, it had always gone well but today it was a bit more difficult, he told us after his session. I did a lot of laps in F1, I got used to it, and then when I went back to F2, I was a bit lost." 

Fifteenth in EL1, the Tricolore was nevertheless delighted with his night-time outing in the Austrian single-seater. "I'm very happy, because from a performance point of view it was much better than my last FP1s., he explained. The run plan was more permissive and advantageous. I was able to do more laps. I am very satisfied, except for the spin at the beginning (smile). What happened? I was a little shy on the brakes, I came a little hard into the corner, but the session was good. I am happy with my performance." 

Still confident for the F2 title

Unlike his last EL1 session held in the Red Bull At Silverstone, Helmut Marko's protégé had plenty of time to indulge in more hard laps. "I've never put a soft tyre on at Silverstone, he recalled. I was asked to bank laps and do some development for the team at the time. Today I was able to bank some red tires and show more of what I was capable of."

Active in radio, Isack Hadjar also reported problems regarding his installation in the car. "I knew it would be complicated with the bucket seat, because it was difficult to do. I wasn't very comfortable in the car. My legs were literally touching my hands when I turned the steering wheel. We had to lower the seat... in short, we have to work on the position, so that I perform even better, and I get tired less." 

Peaceful about his future

Following his session, the Parisian then secured the second row (4th) for the main F2 race scheduled for Sunday, while his rival for the title took 2nd place. However, he did not see this as a prohibitive situation. "On Saturday I have the opportunity to take the lead in the championship. I will try to do that and then increase the gap, and on Sunday I will have to finish in front of him. (Bortoleto). I don't think I have a much worse starting position than him."

Confident about his future as he is on pole to become teammate of Yuki tsunoda at Racing Bulls next year, the Tricolore believes he has covered the issue in the antechamber: "I think I've shown enough in F2, he assured. What happens on Saturday and Sunday will not change my future. I just want to go get the title for me and for my team… I really want to win this championship. My future? We should know in two weeks. 

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