But it could have been so much more, according to the young Frenchman, who certainly surprised fans after topping the timing charts in Q2 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Hadjar has looked close to his teammate all weekend, a much-needed performance after a Miami GP that left him puzzled at his lack of pace compared to Verstappen.

Speaking to F1 TV post-Qualifying, Hadjar was nonetheless frustrated that he hadn't performed similarly in Q3. He explained where it went wrong during the final qualifying session, believing he was overdriving the car after a mistake during his first flying lap.

He said: "I made a mistake on the first run of Q3, and I couldn't really have a good reference heading into that final lap and I was kind of overdriving it.

Hadjar also told Sky Sports about his troubles, arguing that since his difficult Qualifying in Miami, where he was over eight tenths off Verstappen, he has been making too many mistakes. The Red Bull driver crashed on Lap 6 of the Miami GP, clipping the wall at the difficult Turn 13, before thumping his steering wheel in anger.

Hadjar said to Sky: "Since Miami in Q3, I am not delivering. I make mistakes, and I'm not sharp enough in the final laps of Q3, and I overdrive it. There's lap time going away, and it's a shame as we had a very brilliant car and I should be up there, so I am very disappointed."

Quizzed on where improvements could be made, Hadjar cited an RB22 that has so far been difficult to drive for both himself and Verstappen, but added that he may also be "wanting it too much" in the cockpit.

"It's a combination of things," Hadjar explained. "Our car is not the easiest to drive, it's on a fine edge, and also, we've been driving two races in eight weeks, so it's hard to stay sharp. It's also wanting it too much,"

When explaining the smaller gap to Hadjar during Canadian GP Qualifying, Verstappen heavily criticised Red Bull's lack of feedback during the session. The Dutchman only finished P6, half a second off pole-sitter George Russell.

Verstappen said: "The whole session we just had very little top speed and simply no grip. Of course, we did adjust the car -slightly less downforce, a bit better over the kerbs - and then actually just as fast.”