‘I don’t feel like it’s driveable’ – Isack Hadjar assesses ‘very poor performance’ in Singapore Sprint Qualifying

Isack Hadjar was left feeling that a “good start of the day turned into a very poor performance” on Friday at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Frenchman stating that his car was not “driveable” after ending Sprint Qualifying in P9.

Off the back of Max Verstappen sealing his and Red Bull’s first victory of the season last time out in Malaysia, the four-time World Champion again looked to have strong pace as he took pole for the Sprint at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The session did not appear to go as well for Hadjar, however, who had a lap time deleted in SQ3 due to exceeding track limits and wound up down in ninth place.

Reflecting back on what had happened, the 22-year-old said: “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s just what seemed like a good start of the day turned into really a very poor performance. I don’t know.

“I felt very comfortable straight away in FP1 but on the hard compound, and that was it, really. I never got to have a good lap, really.

“I’m just fighting with the car, I had engine issues on the last run. I [was] just struggling. I don’t know, it’s just weird.”

Having not used the soft tyre during the day’s sole practice session, Hadjar was quizzed on whether he had immediately felt that he did not have pace on it when running the compound in Sprint Qualifying.

“No, I don’t know,” he answered. “The soft definitely feels like a huge step to the medium compound.

“There was a lot more grip, but it didn’t really matter anyway – all the other guys were on the soft as well. I just don’t feel like it’s driveable right now.”