Isack Hadjar: A Race In My Words

22 June 2023

Hitech Pulse-Eight and Isack Hadjar have been working together for some time now, and it’s a race from Formula 3 season last year with the British team that stands out in his memory.

Picking out what was a stellar race from his rookie F3 campaign, Hadjar details the tactics and bravery that won him the Silverstone Sprint in 2022.

“Silverstone last year was pretty good. It was a good weekend, fighting with Championship winner Victor Martins, that’s what makes it even better.

“We were into the second third of the season, I remember I was fourth in the standings, 15 points away from Victor. Regarding the first few rounds, we had serious pace but never managed to have a complete weekend. So, going into Silverstone, we had to close the gap to Victor, and we had the pace to do it.

“We had a mega Free Practice and knew the pace was there. Going into Qualifying I remember I was struggling with the windy conditions, balance was quite unstable, and I wasn’t really happy with that. I didn’t maximise the potential of the car. I was three-tenths off pole in P9.

“I was fourth on the grid for the Sprint, I remember Victor was second and with the pace I had, the goal was to win, that was clear. I remember the three guys ahead were on new tyres, I wasn’t because I was saving them for the next day. I started with a bit of a disadvantage but the win was still possible. I had a decent start, managed to stay fourth, nothing amazing but Victor managed to get the lead.

"I had Kush Maini and Reece Ushijima ahead of me at that point, and for the first three laps I was waiting for DRS to be enabled. Once it was, I overtook Kush at the inside of Stowe. It was quite easy because our pace was so good at that point. At that point, Reece was really putting the pressure on Victor in a DRS train so I didn’t know how to go about it.

“I faked a move at Luffield, he left the door open and had a bad exit. I was attacking him into Copse, went for the outside line, backed off a little bit and made sure I was fighting him, so he wasn’t in DRS and after the esses, I had a good run and put a good move on him around the outside of Stowe. Right after that there was a Safety Car which was good for me because Victor was 1.3s in front.

“After the Safety Car, there were three or four laps remaining and we were going for it. I was right behind him and two laps before the end, DRS was back on. I nearly went for it in Turn 6, just before Luffield on the Wellington Straight around the outside but he covered it well. Going into the esses, I was five-tenths off. I knew there was quite a bit of turbulent air when you’re following so I really managed to get it clean through there and I was able to go for it around the outside of Stowe again.

“I outbraked him and it was quite a good move. From there the pace was good and I was able to pull away and bring a trophy to the team at their home race. It was my second win of the season so it was a pretty good race for me.

“It was very satisfying to pass a rival like that and I remember it was a back-to-back weekend with Red Bull Ring and I got pole position there, I was in a great mood then. The team gave me a great car two weeks in a row and I remember those two were really good weeks for me last year.”