Isack Hadjar was a great teammate for Max Verstappen in the qualifying for the Belgian GP of Formula 1 this Saturday (18). The Frenchman provided a slipstream to the Dutchman, who managed to qualify on the front row.
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During the timing session at Spa-Francorchamps, the Red Bull driver explained that the hardest part was not the maneuver itself, but knowing how the engine would behave after slowing down and then accelerating again.
“The difficult part is understanding what the engine will give you, because when you stop at the exit of turn 14 and need to release the power, the engine gets a bit confused, since you stopped for no apparent reason, and the software also gets confused,” he said.
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“So, on my first attempt in Q3, I had too much power, so I distanced myself from him. And on the second attempt, I didn’t have enough power, so actually, he was catching up to me, and I couldn’t keep up with him throughout the whole lap. It was very difficult to assess,” he added.
Then, when asked what he expected in return after helping Verstappen, Hadjar replied with a smile, joking that Red Bull could simply thank him with ‘money’.
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