Isack Hadjar endured a rollercoaster of emotions on Saturday at the 2026 F1 Canadian GP. After engine issues had him tumble down the grid at the Sprint race, the French driver bounced back impressively in the Qualifying session to secure P7 for the Canadian GP.
However, frustration about the missed opportunity stood over his recovery, as his performance in Q2 suggested that a top-three result was well within grasp.
From Sprint chaos to Q3 frustration
Hadjar did not hide his frustration when speaking in the print media pen following Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Canadian GP.
Despite starting P8 for the Sprint race, engine issues forced Hadjar into the pit lane to initially retire his RB22. Fortunately, the mechanics managed to repair the car quickly, allowing him to get back out for a practice run before the session ended.
The Qualifying in the afternoon displayed the team’s hard work. Hadjar was able to push the car significantly, topping the timesheets in Q2 to advance into Q3 with the quickest time.
Unfortunately for him, the Frenchman was not able to transform this result into a top 3 starting position during Q3, putting him in P7 for the race, only a mere 0.028 seconds behind his teammate Max Verstappen.
When asked about the difficulty of the session, the Red Bull driver took full accountability for the messy final segment, openly admitting that his own mistakes impaired a highly capable car.
“Honestly I made it difficult with my mistakes, so I’m not very happy with how I handled Q3 and it’s a shame because my car was really working.
”Yeah, it’s just purely my mistakes of driving a bit and you know, a very clean lap, that’s what I was imaging really.”
Hadjar relieved by RB22 turnaround after the Miami weekend
Despite this frustrating Qualifying session, Hadjar expressed relief regarding the general feeling of his car around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve at the 2026 F1 Canadian GP.
Reflecting on the stark contrast to his unpleasant weekend at the 2026 Miami GP, where he struggled through the weekend before retiring from the race, the Frenchman said that the Miami weekend is “in the bin” for him.
He explained that the car finally feels a lot better now in Montreal, crediting the highly successful set up changes performed by the team between the Sprint race to Qualifying.
”Yeah, it’s a different circuit but also I feel a lot better in the car, I’m not getting destroyed in every corner and it feels more normal, more like the first three rounds. So yeah, Miami for me, in the bin and now it’s back to more normal stuff, happy with the car, happy with the set of changes we did from yesterday to qualifying. We got a lot closer to pole position so we’re doing good.”
Hadjar on the rain forecast for the 2026 F1 Canadian GP
Since rain is in the forecast for the race, Hadjar commented on the prospect of driving the current cars in fully wet conditions for the first time. While he has executed private testing sessions in the rain, he dismissed those solo runs as unrepresentative of a competitive racing environment.
”Nothing, it’s just, I’ve done purely testing in the rain and it’s not made for a race with 22 other guys, I mean 21 other guys.
”There’s no grip, it’s just not drivable.”
Hadjar concluded by praising Red Bull’s technical changes after both Verstappen and him complained about severe ride issues. The team took extreme set-up steps to optimize suspension.
”Quite a lot, we tried extreme steps, it seemed to work. Max and I were complaining yesterday about the riding, we tried to optimize it, make it better and honestly it did a good job.”
”The guy on the sim did a good job, that’s it.”
