Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar is “happy” with a “solid” 2026 British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.
Across Practice and Sprint Qualifying, Hadjar unusually found himself around a tenth off teammate, Max Verstappen in a positive weekend of progress for the Frenchman, who finished ninth in the sprint race due to a clutch issue at the start before he then finished the main race in fifth after Verstappen spun off.
Hadjar consequently was pleased with his performance but felt that there was more potential to challenge McLaren’s Lando Norris in the second stint, after the Brit passed him on lap 30 – having stopped nine laps later than the Frenchman which led him to make a tweak to his front wing at his second stop.
“Ultimately, I can be happy with the result. P5 is solid points for the Team, but I felt we could’ve had more. My pace at the start was good, and we finished strongly as well. We got off the line well and I stayed with Max in the first stint. After pitting onto the Hard we struggled and I couldn’t find the grip to stay close to Lando.
“Throughout that middle stint I was in no man’s land, so it was a little boring for me. We lost time with changing the front wing, but it took our pace back to where it was at the start and I could really push.”
Hadjar however rued the late safety car blunder after Verstappen spun out on lap 47, as the safety car was meant to pit at the end of the penultimate lap only to stay out on the final lap which he believed cost him a chance to fight for the podium.
“It’s a shame that we couldn’t have that last lap as I had such a good feeling in the car to go out and really attack the cars ahead.”
The 21 year-old though was pleased with his overall weekend which marked a huge step forward closer towards Verstappen in terms of competitive pace.
“Overall, I’ve felt comfortable in the car all weekend and feel like I’ve got on top of the package which is good going forwards.”