Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says the squad is not concerned about Isack Hadjar despite a difficult Miami Grand Prix weekend. The 21-year-old driver was disqualified from qualifying for an illegal car part and later crashed during the race. Mekies attributed the issues to mistakes by both the team and the driver.
Hadjar qualified and finished ninth in the sprint race behind teammate Max Verstappen in fifth. He was then thrown out of grand prix qualifying when Red Bull failed to notice that the car floorboards were two millimetres too wide. The team apologised and started the French driver from the pit lane. He climbed to 15th before losing concentration and hitting the wall at Turn 14, damaging his front-left suspension and ending his race early. Mekies told reporters that the weekend was tough but not a cause for worry, noting that Hadjar had been closer to Verstappen’s pace in the opening rounds. He added that the car showed improved speed and that the team expects to be competitive again in Montreal. Hadjar admitted he had been too eager in his early overtakes and said he needs to address his overall pace after struggling all weekend.
