Isack Hadjar says they deserved a point after the kind of race they had in F1 Italian GP, as Liam Lawson plays down incident with Yuki Tsunoda.
It was a frustrating Saturday for Visa Cash App RB’s Hadjar in F1 Italian GP at Monza, when he was knocked out in Q1 for the first time in his short career. Post qualifying, he revealed his frustration and mindset, where he knew he was due to start from the pitlane.
That known factor played on his mind and it ruined his qualifying. That fueled the motivation to do well in the race which he managed to do so. After a long early stint, he managed to gain places and after the spin for Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman, it became a possibility.
He hung on eventually to secure the last point which is crucial in their constructors’ fight, as Visa Cash App RB is just one point behind Aston Martin. “Yeah, I mean, I had fun, I think we deserved that point, because we had a really good phase yesterday, and obviously before qualifying we knew we were going to start at the end of the grid,” said Hadjar to media.
“So that was very frustrating. But yeah, we did a really good comeback, and the pace was really strong, so yeah, we deserved it. Honestly, no, I thought we were going to be stuck in a DRS train [and not score]. But we made it work in free air on the hard tyre, and the degradation was just super low, so it really helped us.
“To be honest, yesterday, I don’t even think I was in the right mindset going into qualifying. You know you’re going to start last, and you’re trying to help the team, so I really put my performance aside. And yeah, we got knocked out, but in the real qualifying, I would never be out of the top 16, that’s for sure,” summed up Hadjar.
Teammate Lawson wasn’t so lucky. A bold soft tyre choice didn’t work out as he lacked pace on the hard compound and was overtaken by the group which was fighting for points. “The race was frustrating,” he said to media. “We tried to start on softs and gamble a little bit, and it didn’t really work. So sometimes it’s like that. The car has been fast this weekend, but it’s a shame to walk away with no points.
“Obviously it’s positive to go forward into the next few races with a fast car. I think if we had slightly bit of pace maybe on the start of the stint on that hard, because we were undercutting all the cars in the front, we nearly got the full pack but I think it was Fernando that came out in front, and that’s what started to push us back.
“I was behind him and I had cars behind me, on the older tyres it was tough. But had we been ahead of that pack, it might have been easier race. But it just didn’t work,” summed up Lawson, whose race was further compromised after a tangle with Tsunoda. The Japanese got him at Turn 1. The Kiwi was trying to re-pass in Turn 4, but it ended up in a contact.
Lawson took the incident lightly. “Yeah, it was just nothing really to it, honestly, he passed me in Turn 1, I tried to pass him back in Turn 4 and I had no room on the right-hand side, so we touched, went through the chicane and then I gave the place back,” he said.
Here’s move between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-italian-grand-prix-lawson-hands-a-place-back-to-tsunoda-after-wheel-to-wheel-contact.1842624167514631105
Here’s how F1 Italian GP panned out