Hadjar Gains 15 Places at Spa: P21 to P6

From P21 on the grid, Isack Hadjar climbed 15 positions to finish sixth and score eight points at Spa.

PHOTO: LIAUZH / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY 4.0

A power-unit change forced Hadjar to start near the back despite qualifying inside the top 10. Over 44 laps, he recovered to sixth, finishing 23.307 seconds behind the winner and securing eight championship points.

Hadjar reached Q3 and qualified 10th before his power-unit penalty moved him to P21. An early Safety Car gave Red Bull the opportunity to fit fresh tyres before the Lap 5 restart. He finished only 4.319 seconds behind Oscar Piastri in fifth. Lando Norris also recovered from a grid penalty, but his climb from P13 to P7 covered six places—nine fewer than Hadjar.

HISTORICAL COMPARISON

Hadjar’s 15-place climb matched the number of positions Michael Schumacher gained when he won at Spa from 16th in 1995—the lowest starting position for a Belgian Grand Prix winner. Hadjar started five places farther back, but finished sixth.