Isack Hadjar admits he was 'too kind' to Max Verstappen in recent battle

The Frenchman, in his first season at Red Bull, outqualified his four-time world champion teammate at Silverstone, lining up on the grid in fifth place, with Verstappen in seventh.

In the race, Hadjar held fifth spot until Verstappen got by on the fourth lap. Verstappen ultimately crashed out while he was on for a podium finish because of a rear-wing issue, while Hadjar finished in fifth, moving up two spots late on thanks to his teammate's accident and Kimi Antonelli suffering a broken tyre shield.

The Frenchman sounded regretful that he made life too easy for Verstappen at the British Grand Prix, but was happy with his pace before it fell off a cliff, as his team discovered that he had a damaged front wing.

Speaking to the media, including GPblog, after the race, Hadjar said: "I think I was kind with Max. But, you know, it's also good to follow him, which I was doing really well. And then suddenly a huge drop off in pace. Maybe it's something wrong I did in terms of tyre management.

When asked about what it was like to race his four-time world champion teammate, Hadjar said: "It was great, it was quite nice and I felt good behind him, for a couple of laps until I lost everything. It was good, he was very impressive today again. He was fighting for the podium so good information but I wish I didn't have to change the front wing."

After nine races, Hadjar is eighth in the championship and only 24 points behind Verstappen. However, that gap would likely be much larger if it was not for Verstappen's retirements in Silverstone, Monaco and China.