Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar wasn’t overall content with his F1 Qualifying result for the Monaco GP, albeit securing a top five start. The Frenchman, in fact, believes that he left too much potential on track in Q3, compared to the previous grid setting segments.
Even stronger Q2 performance for Hadjar in Qualifying for the Monaco GP
Hadjar’s disappointment in his Qualifying result stems from the strong display he had showed in Q2, during which he set a 1:12.722. At the time, the lap had secured him in P3, 0.018s behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli and not much off Q2 leader Max Verstappen.
However, his first Q3 wasn’t as successful, as he wasn’t as in tune with his challenger as in his previous runs. Hadjar admitted that he had higher expectations following his F1 Qualifying Q2 showing ahead of the Monaco GP, explaining how the bad way he began the final segment impacted his second run too.
“Yes, in Q3 we had like just a bad feeling with the car, and I went slower than in Q2. So you go into Q3 [last run] with this as your last reference, and it’s not the best way to approach it. I was five tenths to the guys ahead, so to make a big step was very demanding.”
Nevertheless, he was proud of the strong performance achieved in Q2, in spite of the reduced track time he had at hand following his FP1 crash at Swimming Pools. Ultimately, the former Racing Bulls driver had went on to resume his track time in FP2, even securing a top ten finish.
“In Q3 run 1. In Q2 I was fast,” He added, underlining his best and worst performance of the Monegasque day.
Hadjar had to rebuild his confidence following FP1 crash
His first day crash severely impacted his weekend as well, in Hadjar’s opinion, as the strong collision forced him to build his pace and car feeling from scratch, and his team to rebuild his RB22. However, the Frenchman had felt ready to take on the Qualifying challenge at the Principality following FP3, during which he was able to run race simulations and end the session within the top ten.
“In FP2 the car was repaired, and my confidence was to rebuild. It was just a horrific day. I made the most of FP3 this morning, and I didn’t have much limitation, so I did well.”
Asked whether he believes a podium might be in the cards, Hadjar agreed, especially with the idea that a promising situation might happen in case of steering clear of the potential Turn 1 melee.
“Yeah, especially with the differences of start performance we’ve seen this year. We could see some attempts in Turn 1. Hopefully we’re in the mix.”
