Red Bull Racing had a mixed result after Sprint qualifying for the 2026 F1 British GP. Max Verstappen managed to squeeze himself into the top three, whereas Isack Hadjar had to settle for eighth.
A bit disappointing for the Frenchman, who felt there was more in the tank.
“Yeah it’s just very close to… I mean I’m eighth, the final guy of the top four cars, so it’s a bit disappointing. I’m missing out on third because I was just not quick enough on that final lap, Max was able to do it.
“So yeah, I really want to look at what went wrong in the lap. I know I didn’t have the best start of it, like launching it, so I know it cost me a bit of time.”
The gap to Verstappen eventually was just over a tenth, so Hadjar knows he could have gone up a few spots quite easily, to his own frustration. He was however very pleased with his driving, despite the room for improvement.
“Yeah that’s why, that’s why it’s a bit more frustrating,” he explains. “Because I know if I tidy up one or two things, then we can get there.”
“But happy about my driving today, I think I’ve been on it since lap 1, so that’s good, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll find even more time.”
Verstappen not yet where he wants to be with the car
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was happy with the result, but he knows he could have easily been alongside his team mate, given the small gaps.
“For us, probably the outcome of SQ3 was…” Verstappen contemplated. “I mean it was very close, it could easily have been P3 or whatever, P6 or 7, but we were on the good side.
“So yeah, we were a bit closer, I think we’re still not where we want to be, cornering maybe a tiny bit, but also like deployment and stuff.
“So a few things to figure out, to try and find more lap time, but yeah, we’ll try to do that, of course, after the sprint.”
After only one free practice, Verstappen admitted his car felt better for the sprint qualifying than during the morning.
“A little bit better, yeah,” he explained. “Still not where I want it to be. I guess it’s also just a combination of how the layout is now, let’s say like that, with some limitations on the straight, and just getting the balance in the right window.”
However, he feels he has to look behind him rather than look ahead, as he expect the teammates of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli to have similar pace as the front row.
“They look a bit quick, so, and I guess, I mean, they look quick, so normally – I mean teammate related – they should be quick also in race pace, if everything calms down a little bit.
“So for me, I think it will be more of a battle with the guys behind me.”
