Hadjar admires Verstappen's impressive quality, analyses the Dutchman's style

19:08, 18 Jun

byKada Sarkozi

Isack Hadjar has impressed quite a few already in his rookie campaign. The driver that impresses the Racing Bulls youngster himself is Max Verstappen. The rookie talked about what makes the Dutchman stand out on the Beyond the Grid podcast.

Currently, Hadjar is the only driver on the grid that has never been eliminated in Q1, even as he only completed 10 sessions so far in his career.

Looking at how he builds himself up in qualifying, he said he allows himself to go from step to step in the different sessions. "There's a lot [of difference] even from Q3 run one to run two, it's quite interesting, because you go all in because you know it's your last attempt."

Hadjar analyses Verstappen's qualifying performance

The young driver continued: "Sending it more everywhere, using more the grip. Sometimes it doesn't work, but most of the time it does because his cars are quite nuts."

He is also inspired by four-time world Max Verstappen. The Dutchman has scored three pole positions so far this season, and Hadjar finds it impressive how he can elevate his performance for his final run.

"And I take the example of Max, I think what's quite impressive so far this season is that in qualifying he's there, Q1, Q2 okay, and even Q3 run one, like he you're like he's not a pole position contender at this time. Even with all that experience he has, all the talent he has, he manages to extract even more on that final attempt. And he kind of, which I think is very impressive, that under pressure, he kind of put it all together and finds extra lap time. At this level to find like three tenths is quite impressive."

Verstappen is currently third in the standings behind the two McLaren drivers, but the Frenchman also sees he is still the benchmark.

Therefore, Hadjar not only analyses his rivals' performance, but also the Red Bull driver's as well. "I'm mostly looking at midfield cars, the Williams drivers, Alonso. So I'm actually looking at them, but out of curiosity, I want to know what the high level is."

This article was written in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut