Isack Hadjar finished the sprint weekend still struggling for pace, his 8th place in FP1 separated from the Red Bull leaders by a 1.449‑second gap and a 0.717‑second lag behind Verstappen.
Practice woes and a slippery start
Right after the first lap, the 22‑year‑old flagged that the RB22’s chassis bottomed out in braking and that the throttle felt slick, contributing to a fat deficit versus George Russell and Max Verstappen.
Hadjar’s engine was running clean during the session, but the driver admitted the lack of grip was “very uncomfortable” and stopped recognising any chance of a strong stint.
Qualifying limited by mechanical trouble
In sprint qualifying, the Frenchman cleared position 9 before his sole Q3 lap was erased for a track‑limit mistake; the mistake cost him only a single spot, leaving him 0.892 seconds slower than Verstappen.
During main qualifying he stopped on track with a “broken fourth gear”, restarted, pitted, but failed to return to the grid. He described the technical problems as “bad momentum mechanically.”
Race day and a sudden power issue
Starting from the pits, Hadjar advanced two places on the opening lap and plotted a steady rise through the field, passing both Gasly and Bearman early, before a power unit failure on lap three brought the run to an abrupt halt.
He remarked that the engine “sounded very bad” and later added the car “caught fire and stuff,” summarising the outing as “very straightforward.”
Track‑day resilience in Saturday’s race
In Saturday’s 73‑lap sprint, Hadjar took 10th, clawing up to 10th by the finish and, on the late‑race soft tyre, claiming a single point after overtaking Pierre Gasly on lap 58.
He reaffirmed that engine issues were “the usual,” but he noted that the soft tyre afforded decent pace, though he didn’t believe it could bring a podium.
Looking toward Austin with mixed emotions
Hadjar admitted that, regarding the future, he “couldn’t finish in the top 10” and that Malaysia’s performance prompted him to seek a more reliable car for Austin.
He praised the mechanics for beating a difficult weekend, vowing to return stronger and aim for podiums when asked to rally with Red Bull.
"