After a rain-soaked F1 British GP in Silverstone, Isack Hadjar’s race ended was a letdown as the VCARB driver DNF’d (Did Not Finish); A result of a terrifying crash, Hadjar reflected on all that went wrong following a “complicated” race, and near impossible conditions.
“Honestly, it was quite a complicated race,” Hadjar admitted post-race in the print media pen at the F1 British GP.
The French driver feels that things didn’t go as planned from the start, particularly regarding strategy as he was one of the drivers to fit slicks at the end of the formation lap.
“Pace was very good, I must say. I was following Charles. We were on the same strategy, but it was the wrong one. Just like George, we all boxed before the end of the formation lap. It just didn’t pay off, so we were at the back,” he continued,
The heavy rain made driving even more challenging. As the downpour intensified, the Grand Prix transformed into a struggle for visibility, with yellow flags waving throughout the track.
Onboard cameras revealed just how difficult it was for drivers to see through their foggy visors. Visibility was terrible and dangerously low.
Hadjar didn’t mince words when describing the conditions:
“There was the worst visibility ever,” he said. “For me, there was no point racing in these conditions, because already in the laps on the safety car, I couldn’t see much. The tyre temperatures are going down. It’s becoming tricky.”
A race stoppage?
Several drivers, including Hadjar, expressed concerns over the radio mid-race due to the torrential rain. Despite their protests, the FIA did not red-flag the race and continued lap-by-lap through a yellow flag until track conditions improved.
Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the restart took place when visibility was still dreadful. He crashed into the back of Kimi Antonelli before Copse as he simply could not see the Italian in front. Luckily Hadjar was okay.
“I was actually quite surprised,” Hadjar shared.
“We didn’t wait for better conditions. It was quite predictable.”
While Hadjar showed flashes of pace throughout the weekend, the combination of a failed strategy gamble and unsafe racing conditions ended his Sunday early.
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