Isack Hadjar credits Liam Lawson for helping him to score in F1 Monaco GP, as he notes about getting bored at one stage, while the Kiwi is left wanting for more.
While it was not unexpected, but it was the Visa Cash App RB pair who started the backing up scenario in F1 Monaco GP with two cars inside the Top 10. Lawson was asked to slow down in ninth to allow Hadjar have enough time to pit and rejoin ahead of the Kiwi in the points.
The Frenchman only had Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Haas’ Esteban Ocon to worry about after Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton managed to get ahead of them. By the time the Spaniard retired, Hadjar solidified his position in sixth and had a big chunk of the grand prix to get through.
Hadjar credited Lawson for executing the strategy well eventually. “Qualifying was the most intense day and most hard work I’ve had to put in since I can remember,” he said to media. “And the race, it was a bit easier because, I really relied on Liam. He followed the strategy, the plan perfectly and he offered me really early pit stops. So that was the target and that was perfectly executed.
“I’m really proud because, you go into FP3, you finish P17, you go into quali, confidence is a bit ruined. And I’m proud that we didn’t give up and we played it smart, going step by step and disconnected the brain little by little every qualifying lap. We did a fantastic job. I think the key was just to keep it productive and keep the talking with my engineer to know what was going on [behind me].
“I was aware of Liam’s pace, we were keeping an eye on Fernando. We knew what was going on, I was ready to box at any time. It was quite easy and I had fun. Honestly, I didn’t expect a Safety Car because the level of the field is really high so I knew nothing was going to happen. So I was confident the position was secured and I had to go until the end on these tyres which was a bit painful,” summed up Hadjar.
The situation was such that he eventually got bored and increased his pace in the last stint just to stay awake. “Yeah, the problem is you’re nearly falling asleep because you’re doing tyre management and it’s becoming really boring,” continued Hadjar. “And actually sometimes I was picking up the pace because I was so bored but I had to keep thinking. So no, it was a long wait to the end.”
While it was Hadjar’s fourth points finish of the rookie season, Lawson scored his first after a troubled start with Red Bull and switch to Visa Cash App RB. He was happy to contribute to the team’s double points, but naturally wanted more for himself as well – had he qualified better.
At one stage it was not certain that he would score but after Williams and Mercedes elected for a similar strategy, it solidified his eighth place – an additional thanks to Alonso’s retirement. “There’s always a potential, obviously, when we make a decision like that, our race is limited to basically where I was in P8,” said Lawson to media. “But honestly, it’s hard to overtake here anyway.
“For us, on our side, the damage was done in quali. For the team, it’s a great result. It’s actually really a lot more difficult than I expected from a concentration point. It’s something that from a team side made sense, it’s not often you have a plan that executes perfectly. It’s great to score points, but, obviously, I wanted to finish higher. It’s a good step that we made this weekend.
“But I think we’re always looking for more. It’s very good. Not often you go into a weekend as a team we’re trying to score both cars in the points. It’s very rare that we’re able to do that. To have done that today is pretty cool,” summed up Lawson, who wants to back this up in Barcelona as well. He is not certain where Visa Cash App RB would be with the front wing regulation as well.
“Obviously, we’re looking for more of the same and we’ll be pushing for that in Barcelona next week and with the races coming up,” continued Lawson. “In Barcelona there’s going to be some changes with the regulations so for everybody, we’re going to be trying to adapt pretty quickly.
“But the target’s the same. It possibly can. But it depends. We don’t know how much teams are doing, what things teams are doing at the moment. So, we’ll try and make our car as best adapted to it. For everyone else, it’s a mystery,” summed up Lawson.
Here’s how F1 Monaco GP panned out
