Hadjar endures ‘very, very long race’ after power problem in Singapore with Lawson left baffled by finishing order

The Singapore Grand prix did not go to plan for Racing Bulls, who had both cars finish outside the points despite at times showing enough pace to mix with the top teams in practice and Qualifying. Isack Hadjar was forced to nurse an engine issue on his way to a P11 finish, while Liam Lawson finished down in 15th.

Hadjar had the best chance to score for the team at Marina Bay, the rookie starting in the top 10 and running ninth in the early stages. But the team radioed to say his car was suffering an issue just before the first round of pit stops.

The Frenchman dropped two places before pitting for fresh tyres, but the problem remained and he dropped down the order. As the rest pitted, somehow Hadjar found himself back in the top 10 – only to get picked off by a freshly shod Carlos Sainz late in the race.

“[It] was not a good race. We had an issue I think just before pitting. And from there was just a very, very long race,” he explained.

“I couldn’t do anything, I was just hoping for the others not to catch up too quickly but they did and we got impacted a lot by the blue flags, we lost a lot there. And Carlos [Sainz] pitted before the blue flags so he benefited from that, but we should have done better.”

Team Principal Alan Permane said after the race that the issue with Hadjar’s powertrain was costing him 0.5s a lap, so just to make the finish was impressive – let alone hang onto the coattails of the top 10. Hadjar was asked how it felt in the car once the issue became apparent.

“Really not good, you feel powerless in the corners, on the straights we were pretty much there. It’s not nice but I know it is not my fault, nothing I could have done. I gave my all and even like this we finished P11 so not that bad.”

It is first time Racing Bulls have failed to score with either car since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but Lawson believed more was possible from his race. He opted for a very long first stint in the hopes of a Safety Car but dived into the pits when it became apparent one was not likely to materialise.

He was running ahead of Sainz when he pitted two laps before the Spaniard and yet finished five places lower than the Williams man – leaving him baffled as to how Sainz pulled off such a result.

“We just went very, very long, [and] stayed out most of the race on that set of mediums. Honestly, I don’t really know, I need to have a look what happened because Carlos was behind me and he ended up finishing 10th so I have no idea what happened,” Lawson explained.

“For me, I came out behind the train [of cars], and he came out in front of the train so I need to have a look why. It’s frustrating but the damage was mostly done yesterday from me. Something to reflect on for sure going forward.”

With two crashes marring his weekend, Lawson could be forgiven for being relieved to come out of the race with his car in one piece, especially after coming perilously close to Yuki Tsunoda through the first few corners at the start. But the Kiwi racer was searingly honest about what was possible out there.

“Had we started higher up the grid, we could've potentially ended up in the points with our pace, but a tough Quali meant it was going to be tricky from the outset,” he concluded.