Isack Hadjar is already under pressure after a difficult weekend in Miami, with French media questioning another manifestation of the famous “second seat curse”.
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The correspondent of L’Équipe, Frédéric Ferret, highlighted concerns after the young Frenchman failed to keep up with Verstappen’s pace in an improved Red Bull, before retiring following an accident.
However, he insisted that the driver enjoys strong internal support.
Hadjar disheartened
“Laurent Mekies is a fierce defender of Isack”, wrote Ferret.
Hadjar’s race became complicated after having to start from the pit lane due to a technical infringement committed by the team during qualifying. He managed to climb back effectively… before everything came to a sudden stop. Hadjar admitted that his mistake followed a weekend spent on the edge.
“All weekend, I was on the edge and I was comfortable with that. But this time, it didn’t work,” he said. I wasn’t precise enough, I took too many risks in a 57-lap race. I wasn’t very smart.”
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The frustration was obvious: “I’m angry because the pace was good. I was climbing back very easily,” he added. I stupidly left points on the road. I’m very frustrated, and on top of that, I damaged the car, which also matters.”
No danger in the house
After four Grands Prix, Hadjar has 4 points against 26 for Verstappen and the main team downplays Red Bull Racing’s overall disappointing start to the season.
“The car has improved a lot since Japan. There is still work to do, but our pace in qualifying and in the race shows that we are going in the right direction,” Mekies believes. The upgrades and solving certain problems have allowed us to gain performance. The whole team, both in Milton Keynes and on the circuit, deserves credit for this progress.”
“We come away with important lessons, even if more will be needed to aim for victory. Max Verstappen has once again demonstrated his talent by fighting at the front,” concludes the French manager. “Isack’s weekend was complicated, especially with a start at the back of the grid due to our mistake, but his pace was encouraging. We will regroup to come back stronger in Montreal.”
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