Hadjar explains cockpit issues that left him ‘in pain’ as he warns against ‘silly mistakes’ in Japan GP

Isack Hadjar had a rollercoaster Qualifying hour in Suzuka as a saga of problems in the cockpit saw him scrape into Q2 before he delivered a flying lap to secure an impressive P7 ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Racing Bulls rookie proved his one-lap potential last time out in China when he qualified in seventh position, but it appeared unlikely that he would replicate that performance this weekend for the majority of Qualifying.

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The session began with Hadjar reporting an unidentified issue in the cockpit over the radio before he was shown looking increasingly perturbed in the garage ahead of Q2. It emerged that his seatbelts were fastened in an uncomfortably tight manner, impacting his focus and ability to put a strong lap together.

This was quickly amended in the interim and the Frenchman stunned once again to qualify in the top 10 as the lead Racing Bull car, beating the likes of his racing hero Lewis Hamilton in the final part of the hour.

Speaking afterwards, Hadjar explained: “I had issues with the seatbelts so I had to jump out, jump back in and it was fine.

“It compromised my first run in Q1, then it was driveable thankfully on that final lap in Q1 to get through to Q2. I was in pain a bit and then for the rest I could reset and just focus on driving fast, and it worked.”

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His previous Qualifying effort unfortunately did not equate points in the Chinese Grand Prix as the team’s strategy choices and a lengthy on-track battle with Alpine’s Jack Doohan saw Hadjar drop back to P11.

Even thought it was clear that tyre degradation was lower than anticipated in Shanghai, Racing Bulls went against most of the field and stuck to a two-stop strategy, taking the chance of scoring points off the table for the rookie.

But with his Q3 lap at Suzuka getting the better of both his former and latest team mates – Yuki Tsunoda finished 15th for Red Bull, just behind the recently demoted Liam Lawson – the 20-year-old was optimistic that he could score his first points of the season this weekend.

“Now we focus on tomorrow,” he said. “I didn’t start the work yet because we’re focused on today.

“Let’s see, I think from P7 if we nail the strategy and don’t make silly mistakes then it should be okay.”