Isack Hadjar demotes a furious Charles Leclerc as Ferrari’s hard tire gamble backfires in Austria. Charles Leclerc left frustrated as Isack Hadjar grabs sixth place.

Charles Leclerc loses sixth place after late Isack Hadjar move

Charles Leclerc’s frustrating Austrian Grand Prix race took another difficult turn on lap 57 of 71, as Isack Hadjar found a way past the Ferrari driver to move into sixth place.

The Red Bull driver had been closing in on the Monegasque and eventually used his stronger pace to complete the move, taking advantage of Charles Leclerc’s lack of grip on the hard tyres. For Ferrari, it was another sign that the race was slipping away after a strategy phase that failed to give Leclerc the performance he needed in the final stint.

Shortly after losing the position, Charles Leclerc made his frustration clear over team radio. The Ferrari driver complained about the state of his hard tyres, using language that suggested just how unhappy he was with the car’s behaviour at that stage of the Grand Prix.

While the exact word was not broadcast in full, it was clear from the tone of the message that the Monegasquewas far from satisfied. The hard compound appeared to offer little support, leaving him vulnerable against a faster Isack Hadjar and unable to defend sixth place effectively.

For Ferrari, the moment summed up a race in which tyre management and race pace once again became key concerns. Charles Leclerc had little chance to respond once Hadjar arrived behind him, and the loss of position underlined the performance gap between the two cars in that phase of the race.

Isack Hadjar, meanwhile, made the most of the opportunity and delivered a clean, decisive pass. His move rewarded Red Bull with sixth place and added to Charles Leclerc’s growing frustration on a day when Ferrari could not extract enough from the hard tyres to stay competitive late in the race.