Isack Hadjar was taken aback by Red Bull’s sudden uptick in performance during qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free
After being over a second off the pace in final practice, Hadjar managed to qualify sixth on the grid. He missed out on third place by less than a tenth of a second to Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Hadjar admitted he could not fully explain the improvement in lap times. “It was a tough Friday and Saturday morning, then in qualifying it looks like we picked up the pace a bit, especially as we moved to Q3,” he said.
“I don’t even know how we are three tenths off pole because we’ve been a second off the whole – I mean, I’ve been a second off the time. So that’s a bit surprising and being so close to P3 is a bit disappointing.”
Red Bull have often appeared slower relative to their rivals during practice sessions in recent seasons, only to reappear as strong contenders in qualifying. That pattern was particularly noticeable last year when Max Verstappen frequently looked off the pace in practice but finished the season with more pole positions than anyone else.
Verstappen himself said qualifying went better than expected and believed he might have secured a higher grid position after setting the fastest time in the first sector.
“The gap was a lot smaller,” Verstappen said. “So looking back, P5 looks decent, but actually we had a really good opportunity for P3 as well. But somehow in my final sector, it just started sliding too much and then you’re just not following the normal line that you want to take.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter andgo ad-free
Verstappen also felt the Q3 interruption worked against him. A crash by Charles Leclerc triggered red flags after Verstappen and Oscar Piastri had set the first two flying laps.
“It was only Oscar and me that did the lap before the red, and then we had like 10 minutes in the box,” Verstappen explained. “You probably lose a little bit of rhythm as well, which is not ideal in Q3.
“You want to do a lap, come in, refill, put on new tyres – you know where you lost a little time or not – and go out again. When you’re waiting around a bit it’s probably not ideal.
“But at the end for us it was much better. I went into qualifying thinking we would be miles off and just be P7, P8, but this was promising.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
- Russell blames “copy-pasting” Antonelli’s approach for recent slump
- Hamilton needed a “huge leap” before claiming first front row at Ferrari
- Hadjar puzzled by Red Bull’s sudden gains: “I don’t know how we are 0.3s off pole”
- “Tiny” error behind Antonelli’s “no battery” radio messages on final lap – Wolff
- “It must be tough to stick with me”: Leclerc “ashamed and disappointed” after crash
Browse all 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix articles