Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has confirmed that Isack Hadjar raced through the Azerbaijan Grand Prix without pain from the fractured left wrist that had sidelined him for three rounds, despite the Frenchman describing it as "a bit numb" afterwards.
Hadjar returned to action in Baku having missed the Netherlands, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix following his injury during the summer break.
He marked his comeback with a podium finish, crossing the line third behind race winner George Russell and Max Verstappen.
Mekies said the priority throughout Hadjar's recovery had been ensuring he was fully fit before returning to the cockpit, rather than rushing him back into the RB22.
"It was outstanding what Isack produced this weekend, really outstanding," Mekies told media, including RacingNews365.
"At first, the most important thing is that he felt straight away good in the car, no pain, which means that everything we knew, every time that we met together in the last few weeks, and we said we would wait for Isack to come back at 100 per cent, because that's a priority.
"Well, that's what happened: He was in the car; he didn't have any pain."
Mekies: Hadjar 'raised the bar again'
Mekies acknowledged that Baku's unforgiving street layout, with its narrow castle section and heavy braking zones, offered little room for error even for a driver at full fitness.
"Nonetheless, even without pain, it's not an easy track to go back to, because there's no margin for error," the Red Bull boss added.
"And he has been building up his rhythm, session after session, very calmly, with a lot of positive energy.
"Already [in qualifying] to stick the car in P4 was a very, very strong result. The sort of race pace he showed on the medium, on the soft, is something that we had not seen before.
"So on the weekend of his return, he has raised the bar again. We say to each other very often that we have seen him adding something to the business every time he was going out on the track in the first part of the season; well, he is continuing to do that.
"And on top of that, allow me to say, he also raced extremely cleverly with Max. Very disciplined with his tyres, and it allowed us to have very strong teamwork between the two, between the pit wall, and ultimately produce the best result possible."
Get the latest F1 news from RacingNews365 directly in your Google feed! Click on the link below and you’ll see your favourite F1 website appearing even more often. That way, you’ll never miss any news, analyses, interviews, or exclusives.
Follow RacingNews365 on GoogleOriginally published by RacingNews365 —
Read Original Article