Isack Hadjar 'over the moon' with first F1 podium which boosts his case for a Red Bull seat

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (AP) — Isack Hadjar said he's “over the moon” at a first Formula 1 podium and it's even better to share it with his childhood hero Max Verstappen. The four-time champion may yet be his teammate next year.

Hadjar held off Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on his way to take third place at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, making the 20-year-old French rookie the fifth-youngest driver in F1 history to make the podium.

Before the race, his Racing Bulls team had posted a picture of Hadjar as a boy posing for a photo with Verstappen, given that they were starting together on the second row of the grid. They could end up as teammates next year if Red Bull opts to replace Verstappen's struggling teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

“Outstanding day. I did not expect that waking up this morning. I was being very realistic. I knew there was George behind me and both Ferraris,” Hadjar said.

Red Bull's new team principal is Laurent Mekies, who started the season overseeing both Hadjar and Tsunoda at Racing Bulls, before his own promotion to the main Red Bull team when Christian Horner was fired in July.

Mekies said it was an “extraordinary race” from Hadjar and “testimony of how amazing of a job he has been doing since the beginning of the season.”

However, Mekies also said the team was in no rush to make a decision on its lineup for 2026. He also offered praise to Tsunoda, who ended a seven-race run without points by placing ninth and who, Mekies said, would have finished higher if not for an unfortunately timed safety car.

Making the podium is a big turnaround from Hadjar's debut race in Australia, when he didn't even make the start after crashing on the formation lap and was consoled by Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony.

“Obviously, I thought my life was over, but then you realize it can happen and you bounce back very quickly from that,” Hadjar said. “Already finishing fourth on pure pace would have been a mighty result. But finishing third, I’m just over the moon.”

Oscar Piastri took the win for McLaren, while Verstappen delighted his home crowd with second following Lando Norris' retirement with a car failure.

Sharing the podium with Verstappen in the Netherlands made it extra special, Hadjar said.

“It feels great. Max is someone I’ve been looking up to since my junior days,” he said. “To share the track, spend most of the race behind him, being within two or three seconds the whole time, and share my first podium with him on his home soil as well, I think it’s pretty cool.”

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Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France in action during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia spray Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France with champagne as they celebrate on the podium after the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix race at the Zandvoort racetrack in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France celebrates his third place after the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix race at the Zandvoort racetrack in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

Third-placed Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar of France, left, and second-placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands stand on the podium during the Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The president's threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man who had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger radiating across the Minnesota city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”

Things later quietened down and by early Thursday only a few demonstrators and law enforcement officers remained at the scene.

Demonstrations have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since the ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Good on Jan. 7. Agents have yanked people from their cars and homes, and have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding that the officers pack up and leave.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.

Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, scaring and angering residents.

In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday's shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.

After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.

The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.

O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.

The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.

During a speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”

“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.

Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.

Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.

Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.

Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)