While Isack Hadjar began his first season at Red Bull in impressive fashion with third place on the grid in Australia and out-qualifying Max Verstappen in Japan, the Miami race weekend served as a first reality check for the French driver.
Throughout the weekend, Hadjar was around eight tenths of a second per lap slower than Verstappen and crashed out early in Sunday’s race. It led to visible frustration, with Hadjar repeatedly hitting the steering wheel before climbing out of his RB22.
“I was just pissed off at myself, a lack of focus, because everything was going well before that,” Hadjar said. “We had the right tyres on and overtaking was good. It was clear that we were ending up in the points and I just wanted to go all-in for that race.
“You know, started last, you get disqualified, so I wanted to also have fun, overtake and learn stuff. And I couldn't because I made a mistake, so I was really [pissed], and I'm still pissed.”
While Hadjar admits he is still frustrated about the outcome, he also stresses he has learned from it. That applies not only to understanding why the pace was lacking, but also to how he should deal with setbacks as a driver.
“I definitely learned from the weekend where I got kind of beaten up. I do have to say that I learned many things, also how to react when things go wrong,” he explained.
“I think I didn't really do a good job in Miami and I learned from it. And I'll start again this weekend with more experience.”
On Friday in Montreal, Hadjar was considerably closer to Verstappen. The fourth row is not where Red Bull wants to be, but he managed to limit the gap to Verstappen to just one tenth during sprint qualifying.
Hadjar didn’t feel steering problem that Verstappen reported
While Miami was the first race weekend in which Hadjar struggled in a way many second Red Bull drivers before him have experienced, the team itself did take a step forward in Florida.
After an initial upgrade package in Japan failed to deliver the expected results, Red Bull made progress in Miami with a major package — including its own version of the Macarena wing and heavily revised sidepods.
“I did not really have doubts about the team,” Hadjar told Motorsport.com, when asked about the upgrades. “I think starting the year, it's no secret that some teams started the project earlier than we did, and it showed in the first few weekends.
“But the upgrade definitely surprised me and many people in the paddock. I think this was definitely pretty impressive on our side, but we expect even more for the future.”
Besides the upgrades, Verstappen indicated that another factor had also played a role. Speaking to the Dutch media, the four-time world champion revealed that Red Bull had discovered and subsequently fixed an issue with the steering system.
Verstappen had been feeling the problem since the Barcelona shakedown, and addressing it has given him more confidence to attack. Hadjar, however, said in Canada that he never felt the same issue, meaning it was less relevant to him.
“I didn't have the same. We didn't use the same new column, the same system for Miami. And to be honest, I didn't feel what he was feeling. It shows how sensitive he is to things and he knows what he wants for himself, so it's very impressive.”
