Points haul
Racing Bulls arrived in the Principality of Monaco with two drivers, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, both rookies on the historic streets of the city circuit in Formula 1. Yet, despite having less experience than many of their rivals, both the former Red Bull New Zealander and the Frenchman finished the race in the points, with the latter achieving his personal best result in F1—6th at the finish line.
Teamwork
The result was made possible partly by the skill of the young Franco-Algerian driver, but also thanks to the team’s strategic cleverness. Behind Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson played a key role by holding up the cars behind to allow his teammate to execute the mandatory double pit stops more effectively, which helped Isack Hadjar finish just outside the top five:
“It was a perfect Sunday for us. I’m really happy and, honestly, I couldn’t have done more in the race, so I consider it a small victory,” he said. “We had a plan and we executed it perfectly. I’m really proud of what we achieved as a team, with Liam bringing home eighth place and helping me during the race. It was great teamwork and a double points finish is a nice reward for all of us.
I found the two-stop format quite interesting; there was a lot more to consider before the race and today we made the strategy work. Since last week at Imola, we’ve picked up the pace and taken a step forward, something we managed to carry through here in Monaco as well. I’m confident and looking forward to racing again in Barcelona in a few days.”
Return to the points
It was a strategy that worked perfectly for both Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson. After a disastrous start to the season at Red Bull, Lawson returned to Racing Bulls and scored his first points of the year with an eighth-place finish:
“It was a great result for the team and it’s always nice to be back in the points, which isn’t easy in Monaco,” added the New Zealander. “Getting both cars in the points was exactly what we needed. Everything went right this weekend and we managed the race perfectly. The strategy made sense for us, with both cars qualifying well and showing strong pace all weekend.
The two-stop format didn’t make a huge difference for us—it can create more opportunities, but the race unfolded quite smoothly. The pace has been there for several races now, so it was good to finally show it this weekend. Looking ahead to Barcelona, we’ll try to keep the momentum going. It’s a very different track, and we’ll need to adapt as quickly as possible to the regulation changes.” – he concluded at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.
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