It was a Racing Bulls team with two faces that appeared on Suzuka’s Sunday. While on one side Isack Hadjar managed to fully capitalize on the potential of the VCARB02 throughout the Japanese weekend, on the other side Liam Lawson, in the weekend of his return to the Faenza garage, faced difficulties. In light of this scenario, Hadjar’s satisfaction prevailed in the post-race interviews, having earned his first points in F1. Lawson, however, complained about an alternative strategy that didn’t yield the desired results, extending the first stint on the Medium tire and finishing on Softs. The New Zealander can only focus on the upcoming Bahrain weekend, where he will drive again a month after testing, although with a different team.
Hadjar: “Perfect race, we have a good car in every condition”
“It was the perfect race, I think it’s the first time this year that I’m really happy,” said Isack Hadjar after the race in Suzuka. The French driver maximized the potential of his car in a weekend where he was strong from the free practices. Hadjar finished the race as the best of the rest, losing position only to Hamilton’s Ferrari compared to his starting spot. “Eighth place was our goal, since Lewis was out of reach. We maximized our performance and were able to achieve this result deservedly, without benefiting from any issues with others.” After a difficult start in Australia and a challenging weekend in China, the first career points came in Japan. “I couldn’t be happier than this for earning my first points in Suzuka after such a weekend. I felt comfortable in the car and I think it suited me very well. There was almost no degradation on the track today, so I pushed to the maximum and left nothing on the table.” A positive weekend on a track like Suzuka is proof of Racing Bulls’ solid project, which is encouraging for the upcoming races. “I think the first three races show that we have a good car in every condition, corner, and track. So even though the tests weren’t the best, this gives us a lot of confidence,” concluded Hadjar.
Lawson: “We tried something different but it didn’t work”
It was a rather eventful two weeks for Liam Lawson, who, in Suzuka, had a second start to the season as a Racing Bulls driver. The New Zealander raced with a strategy different from the rest of the group. After starting on the medium tire, he extended his stint until lap 33, when he switched to Soft tires to finish the race. “We went quite long to try something different, but it didn’t really work,” he said. For Lawson, it was a complicated race from the first lap: “It was quite tricky. I went a little wide at turn 13, and from then on it was just a train. Overtaking was difficult, I don’t think much could be done from that position.” The 17th place at the finish wasn’t what he hoped for, but the positive signs shown by the sister car offer hope for the immediate future. “Overall, the car was pretty good, obviously it takes a bit of time to adapt and get used to it. It’s been quite a crazy few weeks and months, I just want to get back into the rhythm and start performing.”
Mekies: “Strong throughout the weekend. Now the development race begins”
Overall, Racing Bulls’ positives prevailed, as highlighted by Team Principal Laurent Mekies after the GP. “Hadjar confirmed his talent with a flawless race. Our car was strong throughout the weekend, and that’s encouraging for the upcoming races. Now, for all teams, the intense development race begins, and we know we must work hard to maintain these good positions.” From the French engineer’s point of view, there are also positives on Lawson’s side, despite a race in which he had to fight in the back. “He had to get to know the car as the race went on, given that he only had three free practice sessions to prepare. In qualifying, he was just a tenth off Q3, and with such a tight group and no incidents to offer opportunities, it wasn’t easy to make up positions. With a full race distance behind him, we’re confident he will now take a step forward in Bahrain.”
Leave a Reply