Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar said he never expected to claim his first-ever Formula 1 podium at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, Afrosport reports.
The 20-year-old started the race in Zandvoort in fourth place and did not put a foot wrong as he profited off Lando Norris’ retirement to claim Racing Bulls’ first podium since Pierre Gasly’s third-place finish for what was previously known as AlphaTauri at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hadjar also became the fifth-youngest podium finisher in F1 history, having put in decent results since his forgettable debut at Australian Grand Prix when he failed to start the race due to mechanical failure.
“But then, actually, you realise that it can happen and you bounce back very quickly from that. And then to have a podium without too much miracles and not much going on ahead, no, I didn’t expect it, especially that fast in the season,” he said.
“Yeah, already finishing fourth on pure pace would have been a mighty, mighty result. But, yeah, finishing third is just… over the moon.”
The French driver of Algerian heritage added: “It feels a bit unreal. What was most surprising for me was keeping that fourth place for the whole race.
“Unfortunately for Lando, we took advantage of his [retirement], but we made no mistakes. The car was on rails the whole weekend, and I’m really happy about myself because I really maximised what I had, made no mistakes and brought home the podium, so I’m so happy for my guys.”
From heartbreak before he could even see the starting lights at his F1 debut, to the podium just 14 rounds later for Isack Hadjar 🥹
Never. Give. Up. 💙#F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/Vr9NhJCRJ4
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 1, 2025
Hadjar will be hoping to put in another solid result in Racing Bulls’ home race at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this weekend.
