Isack Hadjar’s confidence is soaring as the grid heads to Bahrain

After a difficult start to his Formula 1 career, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar is as confident as he can be with the grid heading to the Bahrain Grand Prix. Hadjar notched his first F1 points at the Japanese Grand Prix, and the pace from the team’s challenger, as well as his confidence, has the young driver dreaming of more points in the desert.

“Bahrain is already the fourth race of the season and although it sounds crazy to say it, we’ve been super-fast and finally, in Japan I scored my first points. We got them on merit, on pure pace, so honestly, I’m feeling a lot of excitement going into this weekend and I’m feeling even more confident,” said Hadjar in the team’s preview of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hadjar notes that pre-season testing, which was held at the Bahrain International Circuit, was a “difficult” session for him and the team. Hadjar’s best lap was good for P15 over the three days of testing, just behind former teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Tsunoda is now driving for Red Bull having swapped places with Liam Lawson, who began the year with the senior team.

Hadjar believes that VCARB has made the “right improvements” following what they learned at testing ahead of the season.

“Even though we had a difficult test here before the start of the season, I think we made the right improvements. Now, coming back to the same track, with the experience we have gained it’s going to be really interesting to see where we are,” added Hadjar. “The whole team and I are really confident that we can keep fighting for Q3 and for points.”

As for Lawson, he noted the “great potential” of the VCARB02 when previewing the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“Very excited for Bahrain, it’s a night race which is cool, I love a night race,” described Lawson. “Having Japan now under my belt in the VCARB, I’m looking forward to going straight into having another opportunity to get to grips with the car. We could see from last week that it’s got great potential, so I’m excited to start getting the most out of it.

One of the big factors this week will be the weather, as conditions are expected to be hot during the Bahrain Grand Prix. That is one of the major storylines to watch as the grid arrives in Bahrain.

“It’s looking like it’s going to be very very hot, especially this year, but being a night race, it brings different conditions,” added Lawson. “It’s an iconic track which is normally very hard on the tires but it’s also a track that the team shave tested at, so hopefully we can put everything learned from testing into the car this weekend.“