Isack Hadjar has described Red Bull’s lack of pace at the 2026 F1 British GP as “frustrating” after he qualified fifth on the grid during Saturday’s Qualifying session.
The Frenchman outqualified teammate Max Verstappen for the third time in 2026, setting a time nearly three tenths behind Mercedes’ George Russell, who starts P4 for Sunday’s race. It marks the first time Verstappen has ever been outqualified by a teammate at Silverstone.
Hadjar: “Frustrating” lack of pace around Silverstone
Following the session, Hadjar seemed satisfied with the result, stating it was the best he could have achieved under the conditions, with Red Bull struggling for pace in all parts of the track.
“Fifth is the [maximum]. It’s good,” he said. “I feel good with my car, it’s just that we’re lacking a bit of pace everywhere.
“There’s not one place that we are slow or one that we are very fast, it’s just a bit everywhere. Frustrating.”
Both Red Bull drivers completed the earlier Sprint race outside of the top five, having struggled with energy deployment from the cars’ batteries. Asked whether this was also an issue during Qualifying, Hadjar dismissed the idea.
“Considering how challenging this track is, with deployment I think it’s been pretty consistent,” he said. “We’ve done a way better job than the last few weekends, so in that aspect that’s good.”
Hadjar defends Lawson on Sprint incident at F1 British GP
Following Saturday’s Sprint race, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson came under investigation after he made a controversial move to block Hadjar from overtaking and claimed the final point up for grabs.
Lawson argued that he was “still at full throttle and had not yet commenced braking, and that the movement of the car was part of deceleration and preparation for the corner rather than a movement under braking”.
Hadjar also defended Lawson, and stated that it was his team’s decision to push for a penalty.
“I get along fine with him and we just had a close moment,” he said. “I never asked for him to be penalised. The team did, I didn’t. It’s always one point, but honestly that was fine.”
Despite having qualified eighth for the Sprint, Hadjar suffered a poor start to the race, and dropped back to twelfth following the start. Asked what the issue might be, Hadjar stated it’s not something resolvable.
“It’s a new problem every time,” he said. “Yesterday we had a very good start for instance, so we were confident and then today was nowhere.”
