Hadjar thinks he could have been ahead of Verstappen: 'Pretty depressing'

Hadjar did not have an ideal build-up to qualifying. The Frenchman had to hand over his Formula 1 car to Ayumu Iwasa in first practice, finished P10 in FP2 and P8 in FP3. In qualifying, however, he was on the pace right away and once again made it to Q3.

Afterwards, he was largely satisfied with his decisive lap. According to Hadjar, things only really went wrong in the opening phase of the lap. The Red Bull driver braked a little too late for Turn 1, which also cost him time in Turns 2 and 3. When he then looks at the final result, it still nags at him: "I think everything was good. I think it was a very good lap except for my Turn 1. I look back at the gaps with P3 and it's quite depressing. So, I could have been up there, but it doesn't work like that," says Hadjar. Verstappen also thinks P3 was possible, but for him it went wrong at a different moment.

According to the Frenchman, the problem was apparent right from the apex: "I sent it and did that too hard. That was it from the apex. It compromised Turns 2 and 3. So, quite a poor Sector 1. It compromised Turns 2 and 3. It's quite a poor Sector 1, and then from there, the rest was very good. No regrets. But it's a bit of a shame."

Barcelona is considered a circuit that tests cars across all kinds of corners, while the high track temperatures presented extra challenges throughout the weekend. Hadjar saw Red Bull make progress over the weekend, but admits he didn’t expect to be that close to the front positions.

For Sunday, Hadjar expects tire management to be one of the key factors. Multiple pit stops are anticipated, something the Frenchman is actually looking forward to: "I think it's going to be a very tough race. But I'm looking forward to it because I don't think I've ever done a race with that many pit stops. Hopefully, we're talking about two or three stops. So that would be good fun, flat out, and making sure the guys are sharp for those pit stops."