Isack Hadjar overcame “nightmare” pain during qualifying for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix to place his Racing Bulls machine in a joint-career-best starting position.
Hadjar complained throughout Q1 that his lap belts were causing significant discomfort, affecting his focus and putting him at risk of elimination.
Despite this, Hadjar was able to overcome the pain and escape Q1.
From there, Racing Bulls worked hard to make the rookie driver more comfortable, and Hadjar settled into what fans have now come to expect from him, a strong one-lap pace.
Hadjar advanced through into the top-10 shootout, qualifying seventh to secure a joint-career-best starting berth, having accomplished the same feat in Shanghai last time out.
Given the ordeal, Hadjar was delighted to come through with such a strong result.
“It was a nightmare,” Hadjar told Sky Sports F1.
“I just pulled through; honestly, I’m really proud of me, the lap I did in Q1 with what I had, unbelievable.
“I realised straight in T3. I was like ‘OK, this is not going well’, and I nearly crashed actually.
“But I’m OK.
“I had to jump out [between sessions], and jump back in.”
Hadjar hails fantastic lap in F1 Japanese GP qualifying
Hadjar was able to produce a barnstorming effort to go seventh fastest in Q1, ahead of idol Lewis Hamilton.
It’s an impressive result for the inexperienced rookie, who said he laid everything out there to get the result.
“I was still not happy with everything, every lap we made, we made a nice improvement with the balance, with the settings, and honestly the car just came alive, that final lap,” Hadjar said.
“It was fantastic, to be honest; I couldn’t have gotten much faster.
“You feel something different when you know it’s that final lap of Q3.
“You’re like, ‘I’m just gonna add a tiny bit more everywhere’ and you’re just hoping for it to stick.
“The amount of focus it takes is a lot, but yeah, I was at 100% and I was not previously, so I just managed to be brave enough to make an extra step.”
Hadjar aclimatising well to F1
Hadjar is showing he’s adjusting strongly to life in F1 and speaking to select media, including Motorsport Week, he explained how he’s finding his Racing Bulls machine comfortable, without belt issues, to extract speed from.
“Yeah, the car is quite predictable,” he said.
“It’s fast as well, it’s efficient, so I just need to do a good lap and it puts me quite high in the rankings.”
Looking ahead, the prospect of rain on Sunday gives Hadjar the chance to make amends for his formation lap mishap in Melbourne, and he’s looking forward to the experience.
“I don’t think there are tricky white lines on the track, it should be easier,” he said.
“I just know that in Sector 1, with the tarmac, it’s going to be quite tricky.
“It’s fast on dry conditions, but in the wet, for sure, it’s going to be slippery.
“Still, in the wet, I feel like I don’t have much experience. Let’s see how it goes. I’m really excited.”
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