Isack Hadjar believes the gap to his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix doesn’t represent the actual performance deficit.
Hadjar qualified a disappointing ninth and was 0.825s behind the four-time world champion, who took second with an additional 0.166s to Mercedes polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
But Hadjar, who was disqualified over a technical infringement, believes the eight tenths difference isn’t down to just pure pace.
That is particularly because across the opening three rounds of 2026, there was never more than five tenths between the newly paired team-mates in a qualifying session.
New Red Bull signing Hadjar is simply struggling with the low-grip nature of Miami, having also finished 0.961s behind the Dutchman in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race.
Explaining the gap to Verstappen, Hadjar said: “Just myself, just driving. I think it’s a very tricky track, very low grip with high track temperature so nothing to do with what we had in the first three rounds.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
“It’s not a very fluid racing track with good grip. It’s completely different and Max is very good at adapting to these conditions.
“In the corners, I can tell you I’ve made big progress compared to yesterday. I just couldn’t tidy up like he did and on top of that I’m missing in every straight.”
Hadjar added that he specifically struggled during sector one in an otherwise much-improved qualifying for Red Bull with its heavily upgraded RB22; the Austrian outfit arrived at the Miami GP sixth in the championship.
“On my side I couldn’t take Turn 1 and once you miss Turn 1, it’s Turn 2 and 3 that are compromised as well,” said the 21-year-old, who is 12th in the drivers’ standings.
“On my side it started there and then you heat up the tyres more and then you pay the price for the rest of the lap. On top of that I’m struggling with drivability as well and top speed.”
So the Frenchman is still upbeat about his progress amid year two of F1, claiming a lot of it was just down to Verstappen maximising the Red Bull.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Yesterday, I knew I had to dig deep,” added Hadjar. “Half of the lap time yesterday was on something I couldn’t control and half was myself.
“I knew I had to really deliver something more and today when I look at the data I’m happy with what I was able to do.
“Max was way better than me at putting everything together and on top of that a bit more straight line – he did a very amazing job!”
Struggles with Miami’s low-grip nature have also been felt by George Russell, who put that as the reason for him being second-best to team-mate Antonelli.
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