Isack Hadjar has explained what happened on the last lap of Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix, when he clashed with Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson over seventh position.
Lawson was one of only two drivers who made a one-stop strategy work at Interlagos, but that meant he came under intense pressure from a nine-car group behind him in the last 10 laps of the race.
On the last lap, Hadjar attempted to go around the outside in Turn 1, but squeezed the sister car too much, leading to contact. Lawson and Hadjar still took seventh and eighth under the chequered flag, and the Frenchman owned up to having been too offensive.
“Honestly, I immediately jumped out of the car and came to apologise, because it was a bit aggressive,” Hadjar said. “Looking back at the onboard, I think it was just both of us moving into one direction and we got very lucky. So, on my side, I should have been a bit more patient and probably get him on the next straight, but I made a mistake.”
Asked why he would attempt to overtake his team-mate instead of safeguarding a double top-eight finish for the team, Hadjar matter-of-factly replied: “It’s more points for me.”
Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Hector Vivas / Getty Images
Albeit repentant about the way he carried out the move, Hadjar was unapologetic about attempting it: “It’s always going to be like this. My engineer on the radio [said] ‘click to overtake’, it means what it means. You know, you go for it, and there were no team orders at all. We can race each other freely as long as we keep it clean, and it was very borderline, unfortunately.”
The rookie also clarified that he did not normally take risks with the sister car: “It’s different. Honestly, I’ve never crashed my team-mates in my whole career. I do take a bit more margin. It’s something you should do.”
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Looking ahead to the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as Racing Bulls leads the battle for sixth in the constructors’ championship, Hadjar isn’t feeling too optimistic.
“I honestly don’t think it’s a weekend that is going to suit our car,” he cautioned. “It’s mostly slow-speed corners, you need to take the kerbs, very long straights. I think Qatar is a place that will suit us better, Abu Dhabi as well, but here not so much.”
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