Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing driver, has stated that the time difference with his teammate, Max Verstappen, in the qualifying session of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix does not reflect the true capability of his vehicle. Hadjar finished ninth, with a disadvantage of 0.825 seconds compared to Verstappen, who achieved second place, just 0.166 seconds behind pole sitter Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.
Despite his disappointing performance, Hadjar believes this time difference is not entirely attributable to pure speed. He notes that in the early qualifying sessions of the season, the gap between them had never exceeded five tenths of a second.
Currently, Hadjar is experiencing difficulties with the low grip conditions at the Miami track. In Saturday’s qualifying, his disadvantage compared to Verstappen was 0.961 seconds.
Regarding the challenges faced, the driver explained: “It’s a difficult circuit, with low grip and high track temperature, so the problem does not stem from what we’ve experienced in the early races of the season.” He adds that, in the corners, he has made significant improvements, but has not been able to leverage them as much as Verstappen.
In particular, Hadjar pointed out that he had issues in the first sector during a qualifying session where Red Bull showed improvements with its RB22 car, significantly enhancing performance. “Once you fail at the first corner, the next two are also affected,” said the 21-year-old, who currently sits in twelfth place in the drivers’ standings.
Despite his difficulties, Hadjar remains optimistic about his progress in FIA F1, stating that a significant part of the time difference is due to Verstappen’s ability to maximize the vehicle’s potential. “I knew I had to put in a greater effort,” he maintained. “Much of my time from yesterday depended on factors I couldn’t control, but today, when reviewing the data, I’m satisfied with what I achieved.”
The low grip nature of the Miami circuit has also impacted other drivers, such as George Russell, who has expressed similar difficulties in his qualifying session.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI