Friday night at the 2025 Las Vegas F1 qualifying was almost running perfectly for the Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, if the yellow flag hadn’t shown itself.
Hadjar will start the 2025 Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix from P8, behind his teammate Liam Lawson and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, and ahead of Charles Leclerc.
A disappointing end to a flying lap
Being ranked the second in Q2, Hadjar was flying on Sin City’s streets in Q3. However, the yellow flag caused by Charles Leclerc’s sliding off under wet conditions interrupted Hadjar’s final flying lap.
This yellow flag played a significant role in shaping drivers’ positions who reached Q3, even the ones that are on a knife-edge in the drivers’ championship, like Oscar Piastri.
Hadjar described the situation as annoying.
“I mean, he slowed down, because there was a yellow, fair enough. But, of course, you’re allowed to lift and keep going. When he slammed the brakes, I was coming behind.
“He had slowed down a lot. You know, so it’s a shame.“
Missing the opportunity of a higher position
Hadjar has been a consistent attendee at Q3 in the last six F1 qualifying rounds.
Until his final qualifying lap, he was running as high as the fifth place. However, after Leclerc’s spin, Hadjar couldn’t complete his final lap. The French driver claimed that he could have improve his time and gain a higher position at the last lap by solely looking at the data.
Believing he could have done so much better, P8 wasn’t as pleasing as the people thought it would be for Hadjar.
“When I’m talking to them, they have absolutely no clue. ‘Oh, well done for P8.’ Like, no. It should have been way better.
“I wanted to start a bit further ahead tomorrow for the race.
“Minimum fifth just looking at our seven tenths up, doing the math. It’s fifth, and if I find more time, then maybe more.
“But it’s if, if, if, you know. Should have done the lap earlier.”
A chance to test oneself
For some drivers, the wet conditions at the Las Vegas qualifying session were nerve-wracking. Others saw this as a challenge to test themselves and thrived under the rain.
Although Hadjar agreed that the rain could make everything even more challenging for rookies, especially on Las Vegas’ type of asphalt, he expressed his fondness for the wet conditions. The French driver saw the qualifying as an opportunity to garner skills and experience in rainy circumstances.
Hadjar’s only complaint was the yellow flag that possibly cost him a top-five rank at the Las Vegas qualifying session.
“Everyone saw it was in terrible conditions. We went out, and I was aquaplaning a bit. I had no grip, and I was like, it can’t be just me. Full wet was the right thing to do.
“Honestly, so far this year we’ve been driving in the rain only in races. With no visibility, I never got to really try myself in the rain in an F1 car. So today was the first time.
“I enjoyed it very much. We are fast, so I’m happy to have done my first F1 car in the rain now. Especially on the full wet, it was good fun. It dried a bit at the end, but full wet was fun.
“It definitely tested me. But, as I said, I never got to race fast laps in the rain, yet. I enjoyed it. Just finding more grip there and there. Up until Q2, it was great.”
