RB rookie Isack Hadjar reflects on an "outstanding day" which saw him claim his maiden podium and forces Red Bull to take notice.

Having qualified a mighty fourth on Saturday, a decent points finish would have satisfied the Frenchman, his team and his fans. However, admittedly with a little bit of what Jolyon - 9 points - Palmer would term luck, Isack joined Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen on the podium.

Pursued for much of the afternoon by either Charles Leclerc or George Russell, Hadjar resolutely clung on to the position in which he started. However, Lando Norris's engine issue promoted the RB driver to a podium position.

"Yeah, I mean, outstanding day," said the breathless youngster at race end, "I did not expect that waking up this morning. I was being very realistic.

"I knew there was George behind me and both Ferraris," he added. "I also didn't run on Friday, any long run, so I didn't have a clue really. So yeah, to cross the line third is just unreal," he grinned.

"I knew it would be very hard to fight Ferrari and Mercedes, but yeah, it's more like towards the last 20 laps, I was like, 'OK, if anything happens at the front, then I'm in an opposing position'. And then when Lando had the issue, I knew I was going to finish third.

"It was very tricky," he said of the pressure from Leclerc and Russell. "Thankfully, I had an OK start to keep fourth. From there, like on the opening laps, I knew Charles would be trying to go for the move, which he did.

"I was really comfortable, and on the brakes, I made sure I defended the right way. And that's what we did.

"Then once I was holding him for a while, I actually realised that, 'OK, we had the car pace to fight for big points'. And towards the end of the race, I was like, 'OK, if anything happens at the front, actually, I'm on a podium finish position'.

The youngster, who, along with Gabriel Bortoleto is looking set to eclipse Kimi Antonelli as rookie of the year, is no doubt already on Red Bull's radar for 2026.

However, there could be a problem...

Asked at the post-race press conference what he felt the dynamic would be like should Hadjar be promoted, Verstappen replied: "Terrible..." before quickly adding: "I'm joking!"

"I don't want to be next to Max. I don't like him. That's it," laughed Hadjar.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.