The Austrian team boss praised the Frenchman, who fought back from 21st to 6th at Spa. Hadjar was the third fastest in lap time, only behind Norris and Antonelli. Red Bull continues to work to improve on circuits with high energy demands.
Laurent Mekies has described Isack Hadjar's performance at the Belgian Grand Prix as "his best race" with Red Bull. The Frenchman fought back from twenty first position to sixth place at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, a performance the team boss described as impressive: "I think it's his best race, it's the best race with us, without a doubt" declared Mekies.
Hadjar, who had qualified for Q3 but received an accumulated 30 place penalty for changing several power unit components, started from the back of the grid. The Frenchman was one of the protagonists of the day with a bold strategy that allowed him to consistently recover positions: "It's not just a peak, it's been a bit better in every race in terms of speed, he's bringing speed every time he drives. Today is another step, this weekend is another step, because he was very, very fast from FP1" explained Mekies.
Red Bull opted for an unconventional tire strategy for Hadjar with two early stops and a long stint on the hard compound. Although the strategy was too optimistic and Hadjar had to make a third stop, he had already gained enough positions not to lose sixth place: "We put him on a slightly unusual strategy that in the end with the VSC timing, also offered him the possibility to beat Lando fundamentally, so it was good" said Mekies.
Hadjar set the third fastest lap time of the race (1m47.737s), only behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli, demonstrating the RB22's good performance at Spa-Francorchamps. Mekies highlighted the Frenchman's speed: "His pace was among the top three, so I'm very happy with his progress" he added.
Max Verstappen also had a good result with third place, but Mekies acknowledged that the team still has work to do: "I still think we suffer on a circuit that demands a lot of energy, we'll soon find out if Budapest gives us a bit of an advantage or not. We are trying to progress" he explained.
The Red Bull boss was optimistic about the future: "We have some homework to do to progress on this type of circuit, we don't think we've discovered all the tricks. I say it in a good way, all the good tricks needed to be very, very strong on this type of circuit, for energy management" concluded Mekies.
Hadjar's performance in Belgium is a sign of the team's progress and the confidence Mekies has in his drivers. The Frenchman has shown that he can be an important asset for Red Bull in the second half of the season.
