Isack Hadjar admitted he was ‘extremely satisfied’ with his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory on Saturday, as the young Frenchman won the first race of the weekend in Monaco.
The R-ace GP driver was in a class of his own throughout the race, winning by more than seven seconds from team-mate Zane Maloney despite the race being neutralised by a safety car on lap ten after Nicola Marinangeli was spun around at the Nouvelle Chicane.
Having taken his maiden pole position on Friday, Hadjar became the first rookie winner of 2021, with the win moving him up to fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
He will start Sunday’s second race from second on the grid, with his aim to complete a perfect weekend in the principality by denying Maloney, who is set to start race two from pole position, his maiden FRECA victory.
“I am of course extremely satisfied,” said Hadjar on Saturday. “This morning seeing from my room the wet conditions I was not worried, but knew I was perfectly set for dry conditions.
“In fact, I had a really good pace and would have gained a very big gap from Zane if there had been no safety car. Still, even at the restart I was confident and kept quite easily my position.
“Tomorrow from P2 I will try to gain P1, and if not I will still battle for the second win. The team, my engineer and the mechanics have been great, and after a not-so-easy weekend in Barcelona they made a huge job and here the car is perfect.”
