The Red Bull Racing driver, Isack Hadjar, lost the chance to podium in the Bahrain Grand Prix due to a battery issue that made him vulnerable against the attacks of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. He finished the race in fifth position, having managed to recover places after a five-place penalty that placed him eighth on the grid.
After the race, Hadjar expressed his disappointment when asked about his performance, saying: “There was no pace”. Although he acknowledged that his car had a problem, he could not identify the exact cause.
“It wasn’t working properly,” he continued to explain. “Even compared to Mercedes, who throughout the weekend we were faster. Now, in the race, we were completely at the bottom. Only in the last laps, I don’t know how, we ended up without battery. So on the straights, I couldn’t defend myself against the Ferraris. We lost the position for something so stupid”.
Hadjar had qualified ahead of both Mercedes cars, and started the race on the best intermediate tires. This allowed him to take advantage of the drops in pace from other drivers, including the Ferraris. However, his lack of power on the straights prevented him from securing the third position.
“Hamilton was fifteen seconds behind me and in a few laps he was already behind,” commented the Franco-Algerian driver, who acknowledged he had been fast throughout the weekend. “We have to resolve the problem before Singapore and do better”.
The situation worsened when Alex Albon of Williams stopped at Turn 2 due to a gearbox issue, which caused Hadjar to pit under the virtual safety car. He was then promoted to third position, but shortly after, both Hamilton and Leclerc overtook him, causing his podium hopes to fade.
“On the first two laps of the restart, I don’t know why we had so little battery. Then it stabilized and was fast again. Other times, I could have maintained third position. The truth is that I felt a lack of grip, even behind the safety car, and I knew it would be a difficult restart,” Hadjar concluded. Red Bull Racing has work to do before the next race, and Hadjar made it clear that he hopes efforts will be made.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
