Isack Hadjar Warns Red Bull Isn't F1's Fastest Car Before US Grand Prix

Isack Hadjar has wanted to bring things back down to earth after Max Verstappen's two consecutive victories in Malaysia and Singapore. The French Red Bull driver has assured that the Austrian team does not have the fastest car on the grid and that the Dutchman's triumphs should not hide the weaknesses that the RB22 is still dragging, a statement that without a doubt contrasts with the enthusiasm surrounding the team after its resurgence in the last races.

"No, I don't think we have the fastest car, I think the car is still very difficult to drive. In Malaysia it was dominant but I don't think in Singapore it was the fastest car, that's what I think. If you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race by a bigger margin, in Singapore I think Ferrari was the fastest car" Hadjar declared in the preview of the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

The Frenchman argued that Verstappen's pole by half a tenth and Ferrari's strategy, which did not have new soft tires in the race, were determining factors: "He put all the possibilities on his side, he made the difference in Q3 and that was enough" he added. Hadjar also wanted to make clear that his own performance was weighed down by technical problems beyond his control. In Singapore, a series of failures prevented him from participating in the Sprint qualifying and forced the team to change the power unit, which relegated him to starting from the pit lane before coming back to tenth position.

"It was one of those weekends in which you have a failure in every session, you learn from it and we move forward. I'm happy to be here in Texas, I like the track and the car, in terms of performance, has worked very well in the last weekends. We trust as a team, but of course we are aware of the improvements in the other garages, we keep our feet on the ground and we still know our weaknesses in the car" Hadjar explained.

The Red Bull driver also showed himself eager to leave behind the frustrations of the last races and focus on the Circuit of the Americas, where last season he finished sixteenth with Racing Bulls: "I just want to go out there and have another clean weekend, because the last two have been very frustrating considering the car they have given me" he added.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren driver, shared Hadjar's vision about the hierarchy of the grid. The Australian acknowledged that Red Bull has taken a significant step forward with the improvements introduced in Baku but agreed that Ferrari was the strongest car in Singapore: "It was not a surprise that Ferrari was very strong in Singapore, in the data analysis they are always the fastest or the fastest in practically every corner this year but they lose on all the straights, I think Red Bull was very strong, both are stronger than us without a doubt. I think in the last weeks, Red Bull has become the fastest car more consistently but I think every weekend the challenges rotate" Piastri noted.

The fight for the championship presents itself as exciting in the last races, with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren exchanging blows on track.