Laurent Mekies heaped the praise on Isack Hadjar after he went on the charge from P21 to P6 during the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Red Bull Team Principal asserting that it was his \u201cbest race with us, no question\u201d.<\/p>\n
Just like McLaren and Aston Martin<\/a>, Red Bull<\/a> selected Spa-Francorchamps<\/a> as the best venue to replace a variety of power unit elements, with the hope that overtaking would be easier at the historic circuit.<\/p>\n No one proved that more than Hadjar<\/a>, who progressed to Q3<\/a> before his cumulative 30-place grid penalty was applied and he was relegated to P21, only avoiding last place due to Fernando Alonso<\/a>\u2019s similar drop.<\/p>\n From there, he steadily made his way through the field, before making the most of a bold tyre strategy that saw him pit twice early on, with Red Bull targeting a long final stint on the hard compound.<\/p>\n The call wound up being too optimistic and Hadjar was forced to box a third time, but he had already gained enough positions to avoid losing out, eventually holding off Lando Norris<\/a> to cross the line in sixth place.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I think it is his best race,\u201d Mekies said. \u201cIt is the best race with us, no question. Honestly, it’s not only a spike, it has been just a little bit better every single race for speed. So he’s bringing some speed every time he’s driving.<\/p>\n \u201cToday is another step, this weekend is another step, because he was very, very fast from FP1.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yes, we’ve put him on a slightly unusual strategy, which in the end with the timing of the VSC also offered him the possibility to beat Lando fundamentally. So it was good.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very, very strong. His pace was top three pace, so [I\u2019m] very happy with his progress.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that Hadjar\u2019s fastest lap was the third quickest of the race behind Norris and Kimi Antonelli<\/a>, indicating just how strong Red Bull were in Belgium, despite running an older specification of their rear wing<\/a>.<\/p>\n