‘Nothing could be done’ – Isack Hadjar identifies the ‘weakness’ Red Bull still suffer from

Isack Hadjar believes that Red Bull need to work on improving their starts after a slow getaway hindered their performance at the United States Grand Prix, with the Frenchman “still a bit frustrated” by the result.

After matching his best-ever Qualifying of P3 in Austin, Hadjar dropped down the order on the opening lap and felt that “everything went wrong” as he suffered a throttle problem before settling for P6 at the chequered flag.

It was the latest in a run of challenging rounds for the 22-year-old, who missed out on a podium in Sepang due to a battery issue and endured a difficult weekend in Singapore as technical problems limited him to a P10 finish.

Hadjar was nevertheless satisfied with Red Bull’s underlying pace, as he explained ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix: “I’m still a bit frustrated about [Austin] because I came back from such a tough weekend, where I was really struggling out there in free practice, to fighting for pole and having great pace on Sunday.

“We struggled a bit with a few issues, radio-wise. I was blocked on something, which was quite frustrating to drive with, and the start was not nice.

“There have been a couple of things that compromised us, but the main important one, raw pace, was just great. I’m just happy about that.”

His team mate Max Verstappen has demonstrated that Red Bull have what it takes to win races, having triumphed in both Malaysia and Singapore, which has left Hadjar optimistic that they can secure another strong result in Mexico.

Elaborating on their starts and his expectations, he added: “There have been times when we’ve thought, ‘Oh, we’ve got this under control,’ and then it went back in the other direction. Austin was one of those weekends. I can’t guarantee anything, but I know we’ll push hard.

“There’s nothing that could be done in the last couple of days. We go with what we have, and in the past we’ve managed some good ones. We want to replicate that, and we’ll push through until the end.

“We’re aware of the weakness – we need better starts. We need better radio quality because it’s a bit difficult to do a race without that. And the pace was, I must say, very strong. We’re happy about that.

“But now Mexico is a completely different challenge. It’s a track that’s so slippery, you’re just sliding around so much. It’s not the most enjoyable, but it’s a great layout so let’s see.

“I’ll just try to adapt. If we can minimise the damage, I’m happy. At the start, it’s also a long run down to Turn 1. We can get a nice tow, and that can help for sure.”