Isack Hadjar feels he has had rhythm since FP1 in Australia after finally securing points in F1 Japanese GP, as Liam Lawson rues qualifying position.
It wasn’t the dream start for Visa Cash App RB’s Hadjar in Australia after formation lap shunt. He recovered from it in China, but strategy ruined it. However, it all came together in Japan to finish eighth and register his first points in his three-race old F1 career.
It was not as easy after issues with seatbelt in qualifying and lose seat before the start of the grand prix – both of which was resolved in time. He lost to Lewis Hamilton in the race, but eighth was all Hadjar felt the car had. It all came together at the right moment for the Frenchman.
He feels he has had rhythm since FP1 in Melbourne, it is just that things didn’t work out for some reason, but it did in Japan. “All we could have done today was P8 and we did it – I think it was a perfectly executed race, left nothing on the table and the pace was definitely strong,” said Hadjar to media.
“Especially on the medium, I felt really, really strong and the first half as well on the hard, and later on Alex was just flying and he was catching bit by bit. But I had enough gap to secure the place. So we still need to review it, but all in all it was good. We were not fighting Lewis, obviously he was out of reach.
“But what was good was definitely the start, we held position, were threatening a bit on Kimi but just not enough. I think I already found rhythm in FP1 in Melbourne, just messed in Shanghai as we were on for points quite comfortably, so I think now everything was put together and we got points on merit,” summed up Hadjar.
His new teammate Lawson did not have things going his way as much. In a grand prix where qualifying sealed the fate, starting 13th he lost to Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 1 due to grip issues. From then on, it was bringing the car home as he tried to regain confidence after disastrous first two races.
There was nothing much he could have done. “It would have been very tough from where we were, but it definitely didn’t work,” said Lawson to media. “We’ll review going forward, but obviously on the other side, Isack scored points, which is great for him. He did a really good job this weekend, so I think from our side as well there’s been good things; pace has been good – unfortunately not right when it needed to be in Qualifying – but I think overall there’s still things to take from it.
“On first lap, I just struggled for grip first lap. It was quite cold this weekend so it was tricky, but where we were anyway, it was going to be tough. In general, the car has been pretty good this weekend. Obviously it takes a bit to adjust to get used to it. There are points where I felt very, very comfortable; P2 was strong for us and I think Q1 for us was quite good as well.
“But all these cars have a small window. Maybe this one’s a bit bigger but we go to a new track next week, a new style of track, let’s say, compared to this place. We’ll keep chipping away. Where we finished today it’s not even where we started. It was just something we tried, a bit of a gamble, and it didn’t work. Hopefully it at least helped the other side of the garage, which I think it did, which was obviously good for Isack. Obviously in future, we want to have both cars up there.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-japanese-grand-prix-pole-sitter-verstappen-leads-away-from-norris-and-piastri-on-the-race-start-at-suzuka.1828629145841504098
Here’s how F1 Japanese GP panned out
