Isack Hadjar admonished himself after qualifying seventh for the Canadian Grand Prix, revealing he is “very upset” with his recent performance.
The dejected Red Bull driver was just 28 milliseconds slower than Max Verstappen, who will start sixth in Montreal, in Q3, but chastised himself nonetheless, arguing he is “not sharp enough” in the crucial moments.
However, the young French driver believes he left more lap time on the table than is acceptable, which triggered the self-lamentation.
“Yeah, too much, actually,” Hadjar told Sky Sports F1 when asked if he had left any more lap time out on track.
“I am very upset. Since Miami in Q3, I am not delivering. I make mistakes, and I’m not sharp enough in the final laps of Q3, and I overdrive it.
“There’s lap time going away, and it’s a shame as we had a very brilliant car and I should be up there, so I am very disappointed.”
Hadjar’s pace had looked promising in the early stages of the grid-setting session, mixing it with the Mercedes drivers whilst his team-mate struggled.
Assessing what is causing his lack of form, the one-time podium finisher listed a few different factors.
“It’s a combination of things: our car is not the easiest to drive, it’s on a fine edge, and also, we’ve been driving two races in eight weeks, so it’s hard to stay sharp. It’s also wanting it too much,” he said.
The 21-year-old explained that he is too actively engaging with what he is doing inside the cockpit of this RB22.
“It’s also disconnecting a bit more and not thinking, and it’s something I’m not very good at,” Hadjar added. “I like thinking and being in control, but [on Saturday] it wasn’t helpful at all.”
