Isack Hadjar was blunt in his summary of Red Bull’s handling of his qualification for tomorrow’s Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, describing it as a “horrific day.”
The Frenchman began his weekend badly with a shunt at the tail end of FP1, leaving Red Bull to pool its resources to ensure his participation in FP2.
A sterling effort from the Milton Keynes-based squad saw Hadjar make it, but a lack of track time left him on the back foot.
But despite that, it was a superb individual performance, making it into Q3 and taking fifth place ahead of both McLarens and the Mercedes of George Russell.
Hadjar was left conveying a sense of bittersweetness about the result, however, rueing what was, in his eyes, an error-laden qualifying from the team.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely mixed feelings,” he told media, including Motorsport Week. “I think it was a very good comeback. But at the same time, the qualifying was too messy and we did too many mistakes. Not the best way to build for Q3 and left some time out there.”
In Q1, Hadjar lambasted what he described as “the worst prep ever,” which he later explained alluded to “traffic and tyres,” adding: “We started off the wrong foot.
“I was the second off Max [Verstappen, teammate]. And in Q2, you do a good warm-up and then you’re back in the fight. I haven’t done enough laps with the same car and this is costly at the end.”
Hadjar was able to see solace in his own showing, taking into account the lost time through his FP1 crash
“I think I missed more than half a session. [In FP2] The car was repaired and my confidence was to rebuild. It was a horrific day. I made the most of FP3 this morning and I see damage limitations, so I did well.”
Teammate Verstappen has a superb chance of taking his first victory of the season after taking a front row slot alongside pole position man, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Monaco Grand Prix –Qualifying Results
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