After a phenomenal qualifying session for the young Frenchman, the main question heading into the race was whether Hadjar stood any real chance of defending his position against the faster cars behind him — and it’s no exaggeration to say that he managed it brilliantly, ultimately finding himself, with a touch of luck, on the first podium of his career.

So how did Hadjar defend P4 from the Ferraris and Mercedes cars through two rounds of pit stops? We answer with the help of telemetry data.

A Sensational Drive for a Rookie’s First Podium

Hadjar knew that if he wanted a good result, he simply had to defend his position at the start of the race. The inside line at Zandvoort is far from ideal, but that didn’t stop the Racing Bulls driver from holding onto P4 through the opening laps. He w

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