Isack Hadjar conceded he “knew” from the start of the Australian Grand Prix that he would not see the chequered flag.

Hadjar retired on lap 12 of the Albert Park race after his Red Bull power unit failed, with smoke flowing out of the airbox.

This came after a strong start, where the Frenchman got arguably the best launch of any driver and was challenging for the lead into Turn 1. But he quickly fell back from this battle, and found himself behind the Mercedes and Ferrari pairing and he was forced to recover missing energy to his battery.

“The start was amazing,” said Hadjar. “I started the race with no battery. I had a very good launch and was taking the lead easy, so at least that’s a good point of the day, that we had very good starts. And once I thought I was going to take the lead, [I had] no more power, so that was great.

“You can imagine, for a couple of laps, I was spending time to recover. The engine sounded terrible, so I knew I was not going to finish the race. It was just a shame. We would have been in the mix with, I think, Lewis.”

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Asked by Crash.net if the lack of energy had been a technical issue or an oversight, he added: “No, it’s not a technical issue. It was just…we need to do better to avoid this from happening.

“We didn’t manage to simulate it in the whole six days of testing in free practice as well. Honestly, it’s just new scenarios. Race scenario is different. It’s good experience, at least.”

Adding further context, Hadjar said: “The practice sessions on these young engines, they are not as demanding as a race procedure, laps to the grid. Temperatures are going up and down, so it’s very difficult for the guys.”

Hadjar finds “only highlight” of Australian GP

During his all too brief time on the track, Hadjar had become embroiled in a battle with Racing Bulls rookie, Arvid Lindblad.

From the outside, this looked like a thrilling battle with wheel-to-wheel action, but the Red Bull driver saw things slightly differently from inside the cockpit.

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“It’s hard to fight someone who is going 30kph faster than you on the straights,” he said. “That was my only highlight of the day.”

With his first race weekend as a Red Bull driver under his belt, Hadjar believes he is settling in well to life with his new team, and alongside Max Verstappen. 

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