Isack Hadjar battled through “nightmare” pain to bag top 10 in Japanese GP qualifying
The French-Algerian driver explains the problem that compromised him in qualifying at Suzuka.
Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadar has explained how a “nightmare” seat belt issue left him “in pain” during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Hadjar was heard complaining about an unspecified cockpit problem multiple times over team radio in the early part of qualifying at Suzuka.
TV images captured him in serious discomfort as he made a brief visit to the garage in Q1 before heading back out on track again.
It later emerged that the seat belt strap was fastened too tightly against him, and it wasn’t until after Q1 that the mechanics could fix the issue.
Amid his struggles, Hadjar feared that he would crash on track and not make it out in Q1. However, he was able to pull off an incredible lap to progress into the second leg of ultimately secure a spot on the fourth row of the grid.
“It was a nightmare. Honestly, it was,” he told Sky TV. “I just pulled through. Honestly, I'm really proud of me.
“The lap I did in Q1 with what I had, [it was] unbelievable.
“I realised straight in T3, ‘Okay, this is not going well’. Nearly crashed actually.”
Hadjar explained that he had to “jump out” and “jump back in” during the break between the first two parts of qualifying to resolve the problem.
“It compromised my first run in Q1,” the 20-year-old told F1’s official site. “Then it was driveable thankfully on the final lap in Q1 to get into q2.
“But I was in pain a bit. For the rest, I could reset and just focus on driving fast and it worked.”
Despite a difficult start to qualifying, Hadjar was able to make it into the final leg of qualifying, beating both his new Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson and Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda.
His final attempt in qualifying was good enough for seventh place, putting him ahead of his hero and Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton.
“Q1, Q2 was okay, still not happy with everything,” he explained. “Every lap we made, we made a nice improvement with the balance, with the setting.
“Honestly the car came alive that final lap. Yeah, it was a fantastic lap, to be honest. I couldn't have gone much faster.
“It's a track where, especially with those cars, you feel something different. When you know it's the final lap of Q3, you are like I'm just going to add a tiny bit everywhere and you are just hoping for it to stick.
“The amount of focus it takes is a lot but it's just I was 100 per cent and I was not previously so I just managed to be brave enough to make an extra step.”
