Isack Hadjar is starting to ask the same questions Max Verstappen’s old Red Bull teammates did

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Isack Hadjar found himself echoing the doubts once shared by some of Max Verstappen’s old Red Bull teammates after finishing nearly a second off the Dutchman’s pace in Miami Sprint qualifying.

Hadjar will line up ninth on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, while Verstappen starts in fifth place, just behind George Russell.

The early signs from Verstappen’s return session after a five-week break were positive, though Jenson Button pointed out that the RB22 still seemed to be lacking speed through the quicker corners.

But as he often does at Red Bull, Verstappen made it work when it mattered most during the shootout, which left Hadjar dealing with plenty of frustration afterwards.

Isack Hadjar struggles to explain 1 second gap to Max Verstappen in Miami Sprint qualifying

Hadjar spoke to French broadcaster Canal+ after the session, expressing his confusion over being nearly a second off Verstappen’s pace during Sprint qualifying.

The day had already started along similar lines, with Verstappen posting a lap in FP1 that was 1.3 seconds quicker than Hadjar’s best effort.

“Honestly, since this morning, I’ve been struggling to… I don’t really understand what’s going on,” Hadjar said. “It’s frustrating; I’m a second behind my team-mate.”

“I’ve always known why I was slower and why I was sometimes faster than him in the first three Grands Prix. But a second? We’ll have to find out why. I know I can still drive.

“I’m not going to understand it. It’s also difficult to analyse the developments in this context, that’s for sure. I’m not enjoying the car at all.”

“For me, it’s not a big step forward. For Max, he’s certainly half a second off pole. It’s the best result of the year for us.”

Helmut Marko explains familiar pattern among Verstappen’s teammates