After Sprint Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix on October 9, Isack Hadjar described a Friday that had started well but ended in a poor performance. His Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen took Sprint pole, while Hadjar finished ninth. His timed lap in the final phase was deleted for exceeding track limits, leaving him without a valid time.
Confidence on hard tyres failed to translate into a good lap when it mattered
In F1’s official post-session interview, Hadjar said he had felt comfortable from the start of first practice, but that feeling had come on hard tyres. After that, he had never put together a lap he was satisfied with. He was constantly fighting the car, and his final run was also affected by an engine problem.
The Sprint format meant there was only one free practice session on Friday. Hadjar did not use soft tyres in that session, so when he reached the final phase of Sprint Qualifying he still had to adapt to the compound while trying to secure a result.
Describing the change of tyres, Hadjar did not say the softs lacked grip. On the contrary, he felt they offered a clear improvement over the mediums. However, the other drivers were also using soft tyres, so making the same tyre change could not automatically give him an advantage over his rivals.
Ninth place does not provide a complete comparison of soft-tyre pace
On medium tyres in the second phase, Hadjar set a 1:32.947 and Verstappen a 1:32.701, a difference of 0.246 seconds. In the third phase, on soft tyres, Verstappen took first place with a 1:31.156, while Hadjar had no valid timed lap that could be compared directly.
His ninth place therefore reflected both his difficulties driving the car and the deletion of his lap. It cannot simply be converted into a fixed pace deficit between the two Red Bulls on soft tyres. The full classification and times from each phase are available in our Sprint Qualifying report.
INKA SPORTS analysis: extra grip still has to translate into a valid lap
Hadjar’s feedback separated two issues that are easily conflated: a tyre may offer more grip without making the car easier for the driver to control. He could genuinely feel the improvement from the softs, but had not yet translated it into a consistent, valid lap when it mattered.
In Grand Prix qualifying on the evening of October 10, Beijing time (UTC+8), the questions will be whether he can complete a timed lap within track limits and regain the driving confidence he felt at the start of first practice.
The engine problem was another disruption Hadjar mentioned, but he did not identify a failed component or quantify the time lost in this interview. The available information supports investigating power delivery and handling separately; it is insufficient to explain his difficulties throughout qualifying through a single fault.
Conclusion
Red Bull demonstrated its ability to fight for pole in Singapore on Friday, but Hadjar still lacked what he needed to turn grip into a complete lap. Restoring control, investigating the power issue on his final run and recording a valid time on soft tyres will allow a clearer assessment of his true position.
