ZANDVOORT, Netherlands -- Isack Hadjar described his first podium finish in Formula 1 as "unreal" after securing third place at Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old rookie stood alongside race-winner Oscar Piastri and second-place Max Verstappen on Zandvoort's podium, following his best weekend as a Racing Bulls driver.
Starting fourth on the grid, Hadjar resisted early pressure from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Mercedes of George Russell behind him, before benefitting from Lando Norris' retirement from second place to move up to third.
"It feels a bit unreal," Hadjar said. "What was most surprising to me is keeping that fourth place for the whole race.
"Unfortunately for Lando, we took advantage of his problem, but yeah, we did no mistake. The car was on rails the whole weekend, and I'm really happy about myself because I really maximised what I had.
"Made no mistakes and brought home the podium. So yeah, I'm so happy for my guys."
Hadjar's F1 career started in ominous fashion with a spin on the formation lap at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but he has since scored points at seven rounds driving for Red Bull's junior team, Racing Bulls.
"After what happened in Australia, in the car, obviously, I thought my life was over, but then you realise it can happen and you bounce back very quickly from that," he said. "Then to have a podium without too much miracles and not much going on ahead-no, I didn't expect it, especially that fast in the season.
"Already finishing fourth on pure pace would have been a mighty result. But finishing third, I'm just over the moon."
Hadjar's podium is the first for Racing Bulls since Pierre Gasly finished third at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when the team was branded as AlphaTauri.
