Isack Hadjar went from tenth place and a single point at Baku to third on the podium in the space of one year, and he did it in a race he was not certain to be in.
Two starts, sixteen points, one podium. Fifteen of those points came on the second visit.
A point in the junior car, a podium in the senior one
The 2025 debut here was a working weekend rather than a memorable one. Eighth on the grid for Racing Bulls, tenth at the flag, one point. It was the smallest score of his rookie season and it came at a circuit where a first visit often ends in a wall instead.
What happened between the two races matters more than either of them. He was out of the car from the Dutch Grand Prix onwards and missed three consecutive rounds, with Liam Lawson moving up to take the second Red Bull in the meantime.
He was back for Azerbaijan, qualified fourth in the RB22 and finished third behind George Russell and Max Verstappen. It was his second podium of 2026 after Monaco, and it arrived on an afternoon when seven cars did not reach the flag at all.
Isack Hadjar's Azerbaijan GP record year by year
Every Azerbaijan Grand Prix start, with the grid slot it came from and what it was worth.
| Season | Grid | Finish | Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | P10 | 1 | Racing Bulls |
| 2026 | 4 | P3 | 15 | Red Bull |
Two starts, two finishes, one very good day
No win, no pole and no fastest lap, but a podium from two attempts at the circuit with the highest retirement rate on the calendar is a strong opening to a record. Both visits ended with the car intact, which more experienced drivers cannot say here.
The jump from eighth on the grid to fourth, and from one point to fifteen, tracks the change of car more than anything else. Baku has now given him the best and the quietest afternoons of his short Formula 1 career, in that order.
