Isack Hadjar’s first Formula 1 podium came with the sort of rookie mistake they don’t teach you in junior formulas: don’t pick up a heavy trophy by its dainty handle.
Minutes after banking a superb P3 at the Dutch Grand Prix, the Racing Bulls rookie set his silverware on the ground for a team photo. When he lifted it again, the thin stem came up…and the base didn’t. Cue a stunned look, a yelp you could hear over the garage speakers, and a Red Bull shower from his crew to wash away the embarrassment. The moment instantly joined F1’s odd little library of broken-trophy lore, where Lando Norris’ infamous Hungarian mishap remains the gold standard.
It won’t touch the shine of what Hadjar did before the photo op. Starting a career-high fourth on the grid at Zandvoort, he spent most of a tense, attritional afternoon staring at the horizon and fending off big names in the mirrors. Charles Leclerc and George Russell both took turns trying to dislodge the Frenchman; neither could. When Lando Norris retired late on, it nudged Hadjar into the podium places. He didn’t flinch.
“Outstanding day,” he said afterwards, still riding the high — and still trying not to laugh about the broken silverware. “I didn’t expect that waking up this morning. I was being realistic, I know there was George behind me and both Ferraris. I also didn’t run any long runs on Friday, so I didn’t have a clue really. To cross the line third is just unreal.”
It was more than a one-off box ticked. For the Red Bull sister team, this was the first visit to the rostrum since Pierre Gasly’s run to third in Baku back in 2021. For Hadjar, it felt like the next line in a story Helmut Marko has been sketching for years.
“There’s more than one person to thank,” he said. “My parents, my mum and dad. And more sporting-wise, Helmut, who gave me this shot. I remember four years ago he signed me back in FRECA. He gave me a path for trajectory, and I’m actually following it pretty well right now.”
He also pocketed the fan-voted Driver of the Day award, as the grandstands drenched in orange found a new underdog to cheer, even if only for an afternoon. Zandvoort can be a claustrophobic place for anyone not named Verstappen; Hadjar looked unbothered by the pressure, matching the race rhythm of quicker cars and keeping his tyres alive when it mattered.
Racing Bulls, for their part, turned the garage into a street party. The team released the now-viral clip of the trophy incident, which did nothing to dent the mood. These are the kinds of days that keep a midfield operation buzzing through the grind — the breakthrough, the spray, the busted base and the belly laughs in the photo bay.
Hadjar’s composure was the bigger statement. He didn’t overreach at the start, didn’t chase a pace that wasn’t there, and when Norris’ late heartbreak cracked the door open, he walked through like he’d been there before. That’s the stuff that sticks with team bosses. Marko will like the result; he’ll love the way it was built.
The hardware can be glued. The memory won’t need it.
