Laurent Mekies says Isack Hadjar has developed well since January, as the Frenchman notes about season so far and teams’ standings.
Coming into his rookie season, Visa Cash App RB’s Hadjar was one of them with less mileage in a F1 car. He got some running, but it was not enough as someone like Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The pre-season testing went well for the Frenchman, but Australia was a disaster after formation lap end.
He picked himself up and put in a string of performances, whether against Yuki Tsunoda and or Liam Lawson. Being in a midfield, Hadjar seems to be top of the lot, especially with Antonelli driving for Mercedes. There’s still some way to go, but the Frenchman has been on it thus far.
Former team boss Mekies agrees that he has upped his game nicely since January. Mekies is now at Red Bull, but has good words for his former driver. “I think the starting point for Isack has been sensational, nothing less than that,” he said. “He came to us in January. He had done one day of testing in his life in Formula 1. And then we did one wet day of testing, and then here we are.
“Let’s go to Bahrain and let’s go to Melbourne. If you look at the natural speed, how quickly he blended with the engineers, with all the team members, with the whole Formula 1 crews, and all the pressure that comes with it, it’s just something that none of us were expecting him to be at that level. Now we strongly believe in driver development.
“So regardless of how incredible his starting point is, we expect him to grow. We expect him to develop. He has already developed a lot from January, and it’s our responsibility to make sure we create the environment around him so that he can make these steps as often as possible and be as strong as possible,” summed up Mekies.
For Hadjar too, driving the Visa Cash App RB car is a good starting point, considering how difficult Red Bull is to drive. The Frenchman has found no surprises, which makes it a touch easier. He feels he is in control of his season so far, but the learning never stops.
“It’s been probably the most consistent car, performance-wise,” said Hadjar. “We never had bad surprises. I look back at it and analyse and try to make a better second half. At the moment, it’s not like I’m in total control and I’m scoring points every weekend. There’s still a lot to learn.
“It [P5 in constructors’] is definitely the target. Austria was very good, we are heading in the right direction, it is a shame that I didn’t get the points but thankfully Liam did. It is definitely realistic, obviously drivers’ championship, Alex is far. For constructors’ championship, we are two doing the car, so we can go faster,” summed up Hadjar.
Here’s Isack Hadjar on Red Bull second seat
Here’s Laurent Mekies on Red Bull role
Here’s Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson on British GP
