Isack Hadjar "very pissed off" after costly error in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying

Isack Hadjar was filled with rage after qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as a mistake from the Formula 1 rookie cost him a top-three finish.

The Racing Bulls driver will start eighth for Sunday’s grand prix in Baku, while team-mate Liam Lawson is third behind polesitter Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.

But Hadjar could easily have been up there. Red-flag stoppages meant only three drivers had set a lap time before the final minute of Q3, including the Frenchman who was third behind Sainz and Lawson.

Hadjar was then nine tenths of a second quicker than his original lap through the first two sectors of his final run, but he spent too much time on the exit kerb at Turn 16 with a brief snap of oversteer.

The 20-year-old was thus very angry afterwards, shaking the media pen barrier, as Hadjar believes he would have qualified third without the mistake. 

“I'm very pissed off,” he said. “I made a really good lap until I went skateboarding on that kerb. I lost eight tenths all the way to the finish line.”

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team

Telemetry shows Hadjar was actually on course for second as he was initially one and a half tenths quicker than Lawson, who qualified 0.112s behind Sainz. 

There was a chance though of drivers not managing to go out again in Q3 due to the threat of rain, but Hadjar did not use that as an excuse for his error, nor did he want it to end the session early. 

“This corner has been difficult for everyone today,” added Hadjar. “So it's the same for everyone and I made a mistake. I wanted to go out there and drive and I got this chance and I blew it.”

He also refused to blame it on qualifying taking two hours to complete, as there were a record-breaking six red flags across all sessions thanks to various crashes. 

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“Apparently my focus capability stopped in the last corner and that was it,” said Hadjar. “But I felt very strong before that.”

Reaching Q3 was nevertheless another positive in an impressive rookie campaign, as Hadjar claimed a maiden podium in Zandvoort and is tipped for a Red Bull promotion to replace Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified sixth in Baku, as Verstappen’s team-mate next year. 

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team

When it was put to him that having both cars in Q3 marked a triumph for Racing Bulls, Hadjar said: “No, that's for sure. That's true, but it's just that it's not what I want to be when the car can deliver better, that's it.”

Lawson was understandably more upbeat after the session, and the 23-year-old reckons the key to his result was “just surviving” the chaotic conditions. 

The Kiwi said he’d “love to” claim his maiden podium on Sunday, but is wary of usual frontrunners starting out of position like the championship-leading McLarens - Lando Norris is seventh with title favourite Oscar Piastri, who crashed during Q3, in ninth. 

“The car's been very, very good recently, so I'm not going to say that it's not going to be fast tomorrow, but we know that there's very, very quick guys coming from behind us,” Lawson, who is 15th in the drivers’ standings with Racing Bulls seventh in the constructors’, told Sky Sports. 

“Obviously we'll try and do the best we can, but I'm sure it's going to be a tough race. But if it's anything like today with these conditions, then anything's possible.”

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