Isack Hadjar says Red Bull’s clutch needs a complete redesign after a string of problems at the United States Grand Prix left him P6.
The Frenchman finished sixth at the Circuit of the Americas, having started third – the Milton Keynes-based squad’s challenging fading away in the race.
Teammate Max Verstappen started second and finished third, with the Dutchman complaining the RB22’s characteristics were “average” on the Texan circuit.
Poor starts have been a known and consistent anomaly on the car, and it was evident on Hadjar’s car at the start, as he was swamped by both Ferraris at lights-out.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Hadjar said he had done everything right at the start, only for the clutch to over-deliver, with poor radio reception [another problem afflicting Verstappen] then left him unable to hear his team during his pit stop, and he rejoined in the wrong engine mode.
“I do everything perfectly in terms of procedure, and then I just have like clutch over-delivery. And these things are just out of my control,” he said.
“Then I have poor radio coverage; I can’t hear what’s happening in the pits. And I leave the pits with the wrong map, and then I’m losing a second a lap on the Hard tyre.”
Hadjar said there was no quick fix for the clutch issue.
“It needs a redesign because at the moment it’s too fragile and it’s not coping well with temperatures. It’s a real struggle.”
The problems compound a difficult run for Hadjar, who finished 10th in Singapore, a race in which he since claimed Red Bull were inferior to Ferrari, despite Verstappen’s win.
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc responds to Isack Hadjar’s ‘nonsense’ Ferrari Singapore assessment
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