Isack Hadjar disagreed with Racing Bulls' strategic decision. Photo: RacePictures.

Hadjar and Racing Bulls at odds over ky U.S GP decision

20:46, 21 Oct

byNorberto Mujica

Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar reveals he was against Racing Bulls’ plan but understood "their point of view."

According to Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls’ decision-making process at the United States Grand Prix was compromised from the very start due to his P20 grid position, which led the team to attempt a strategy he admits “didn’t really make sense.”

Unsurprisingly for Hadjar, the gamble didn’t pay off. The French Algerian finished P16 after what he described to GPblog as “the race we anticipated, to be honest. Our pace was obviously not amazing today, it was average, and our strategy, we wanted to go long and for something to happen, but it wasn’t the case.”

Isack Hadjar started the U.S GP in P20. Photo: RacePictures.

For the race in Texas, Pirelli skipped a compound step, bringing the C1, C2 and C4 tyres. Like Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Hadjar found the hard compound “too slow around here” and revealed it hadn’t been his decision to start on it.

“I didn’t want to start on the hard today,” he said. “I knew the soft and medium were just enough to make the whole race, but obviously, starting in P20, you want to try things that don’t really make sense, so yeah, we tried.”

Hadjar admitted he disagreed with the call but accepted the reasoning behind it. “No, if it was down to me, I would have started on another tyre, but I understand their point of view. We had to try something, we had to understand. So yeah, I was against their decision, but that was fine, at least we learned something.”

Has Hadjar Got a Foot in the Door at Red Bull?

After Max Verstappen’s 68th career win in Austin, Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko told GPblog he currently had an ongoing bet on Yuki Tsunoda.

With Tsunoda’s contract expiring at the end of 2025 and his form swinging back and forth, Marko hinted that “anything could happen” before the post-Mexico decision deadline, joking that the best way to close the gap between Verstappen and Tsunoda would be to “take Max out of the car.”

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