Isack Hadjar faced a complicated day in free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula 1. The driver finished FP1 in 13th position and dropped to 15th place in FP2, highlighting difficulties with the car’s balance and grip.
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“Today was not our best day, we had balance and grip problems in both sessions, which made it difficult to put together the laps we wanted”, commented the driver.
Despite an improvement in driving feel during FP2, Hadjar acknowledged that he is still far from the ideal pace for Suzuka: “For FP2 we took a step in the car’s behavior, but we fell a bit further in lap time”, he stated. This situation shows that more adjustments will still be necessary to find adequate performance.
The young driver highlighted that the lack of comfort in the car has been an additional challenge: “I’m not as comfortable in the car as I would like, but I’m sure that, before tomorrow, we can turn things around and put ourselves in better shape for the qualifying session”, said Hadjar.
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The Frenchman’s analysis highlights the importance of the team’s work during the night to improve balance, grip and lap time. Suzuka demands precision, and any small technical detail can make a difference in on-track performance, especially in such a competitive grid.
Hadjar and his team now focus on adjusting the car for the qualifying session on Saturday and the race on Sunday, seeking to reduce the gap to competitors. The expectation is that the combination of setup adjustments and learning from previous sessions will allow the driver to extract more performance from the car.
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