Saturday (23) for Isack Hadjar was a day of great progress with Red Bull at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but it ended in frustration after he was unable to turn the good pace shown in qualifying into a concrete result for the Canadian GP grid.
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After finishing 21st in the Sprint, the driver reacted well and secured 7th place on the grid with a time of 1:12.935. He highlighted the performance improvement but regretted not nailing the decisive lap:
“The guys did a very good job recovering the car after a frustrating Sprint race. Going from nowhere in the Sprint to P1 in Q2 is brilliant. I started the qualifying session very well, felt very comfortable in the car, and took a big step forward in terms of pace. When it mattered, I couldn’t put the lap together and was pushing the car too hard, so I’m very frustrated with myself. It’s definitely positive to have made these steps, but I should be fighting for a podium.”
Max Verstappen finished the Sprint in 7th. In qualifying, he was 6th after car changes that brought partial improvement.
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“It was a somewhat lonely Sprint race for me. We knew that, with the setup we had, we would be limited in getting close to the cars ahead. We made changes for qualifying, but I still struggled. We improved in some areas, but we need to understand more about energy delivery, especially in braking zones. It will probably rain tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.”
The team principal, Laurent Mekies, highlighted inconsistencies in performance but valued the Austrian team’s learning: “Qualifying was not smooth. We were competitive at times and weaker at others. We learned a lot and that helps our progression. We are three tenths off pole, which reflects well where we are and the work we still have.”
He also warned about the rain forecast: “It could be a chaotic race, especially with no experience of these cars in the rain, which will be a challenge for everyone.”
