Hadjar admits that he "could feel the upgrade in the race pace"

Isack Hadjar believes Red Bull now has its strongest Formula 1 package of the season after producing an impressive drive from eighth to sixth place at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman delivered one of his most complete performances of the year at the Red Bull Ring, overcoming one of the biggest weaknesses of his rookie campaign with an excellent launch off the line before racing his way past Charles Leclerc and reigning world champion Lando Norris.

Having often lost positions at the start of races earlier this season, Hadjar made immediate progress in Spielberg with an aggressive opening lap that set the tone for an afternoon of confident racing.

"I was happy with my race start, it was a big improvement from Barcelona," Hadjar said afterwards. "Starting from eighth, we had a very aggressive race."

The 21-year-old spent much of the afternoon battling some of Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc.

Although tyre degradation made the closing stages difficult, Hadjar successfully defended his position to finish sixth, equalling one of his strongest results of the campaign.

"I was running out of tyres at the end of my stints, so it was probably not the fastest race for me, but I still managed to gain two places."

Perhaps the biggest positive for Hadjar was the clear step forward Red Bull appeared to make with its latest upgrade package.

While team mate Max Verstappen challenged George Russell for victory, Hadjar was equally encouraged by the pace of the RB22 further down the order.

"You could feel the upgrade in the race pace, and I think we had the second quickest car today so I was very happy with that."

The result continued a positive trend for the French rookie, who has steadily grown in confidence throughout his first full Formula 1 season.

Despite his strong performance, Hadjar believes there is still more performance to unlock as he continues adapting to the car.

"I still need to feel more comfortable in the car to extract the most from it, but it is the best race car we've had so far, and it is delivering."

With Formula 1 heading straight to Silverstone next weekend, Hadjar is optimistic that cooler conditions could allow Red Bull to take another step forward.

"I think on a cooler track, hopefully next week, we can be a bit more competitive again."