Photo: Wikimedia Commons (free licence), cropped and styled by SportNestra — author and licence
“I’m really pissed off,” Isack Hadjar said after a day disrupted by several mechanical problems at the Singapore Grand Prix. Above all, the driver wanted to be able to run: “I just want to drive.” He also regretted being unable to work through new tyres, adding that he was “really, really pissed off” not to have that chance.
A track-limits violation had dropped him to ninth on the sprint grid. He then retired after two laps because of a power unit failure. Hadjar said he had stopped as a safety measure, unsure where the safest place was. “My car got caught on fire and stuff. It was just a disaster,” he said, adding that he could have stayed in Paris and it would have made no difference to his day.
The RB22 was provisionally repaired in time for grand prix qualifying. But a broken fourth gear kept Hadjar from setting a lap and knocked him out in Q1. “For me, that’s the problem with these weekends,” he said, describing how impossible it was to work on the car and how much depended on luck. He had been eager to try the changes and assess the engine, which was working fine, but believes it is hard to learn in those conditions.
His frustration is heightened by team-mate Max Verstappen’s wins in the Sepang Grand Prix and Singapore sprint, both from pole. Verstappen is also due to start Sunday’s race from that position, while Hadjar will line up on the back row.
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