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Isack Hadjar believes his Singapore Grand Prix weekend gave a false impression of his true pace. The Red Bull rookie, speaking after the race on May 9, 2026, insisted the speed he found during the event was far better than his final result suggested.
Hadjar was forced to start from the pitlane after a technical problem, while teammate Max Verstappen went on to win. The Frenchman recovered to tenth place, collecting a single point. But he made it clear that he saw the afternoon as a missed chance rather than a salvage operation.
“It didn’t start very well,” Hadjar told Canal Plus. “But then I found my rhythm. With the soft tyres, the pace was really solid, and I had a lot of fun overtaking.”
That version of events matters for two reasons. First, it separates Hadjar’s performance from Red Bull’s reliability problems. Second, it challenges the idea that he is being left behind as the team builds the car around Verstappen.
Hadjar was frank about his frustration. He said the speed he showed in the race was enough to fight for much more than the bottom end of the points.
“It’s frustrating because I know that with the pace I had today we could have had a good qualifying session and been in contention for the podium,” he said. “I would have liked to have used that speed to fight for a win. On that soft tyre I knew I could still find speed, but I didn’t think I would be that fast.”
The context around Red Bull only adds to the intrigue. Toto Wolff noted in Singapore that as Verstappen’s car has improved, the familiar pattern of the second driver struggling appears to be returning. Hadjar, understandably, sees things differently. He does not believe his deficit is a matter of raw lap time.
His recovery drive supports part of that argument. Starting from the pitlane usually means overtaking a long queue of cars on pure pace alone, and Hadjar made steady progress through the midfield. His strongest stint came on the soft compound, where he said the car came alive and allowed him to attack from corner to corner.
That is a useful reference for the team. It shows that when the car works for Hadjar, he can run at a respectable level. The issue is consistency. Since Malaysia, he has been battling with a car that does not respond to him in the same way it responds to Verstappen.
Hadjar has been open about that struggle. He spoke of desperately looking for a car that works with him, and he wants a full reset before the next round in Austin.
“I’ve been desperately looking for a car that’s working with me a little bit since Malaysia so I can fight for a win,” he said. “At the moment, that is not possible. We now need to reset and understand what happened. We have to make sure we get back to Austin and fight for podiums.”
That is a reasonable target, but it also carries risk. Red Bull has a long history of demanding immediate results from its second drivers. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were both replaced after being measured too quickly against Verstappen. Hadjar, though, is in a different position.
His Red Bull seat has been confirmed for 2027, which gives him something his recent predecessors did not have: time. The team has signaled that it sees him as part of the long-term project, not just a stopgap. That should make the coming races more forgiving, but it also means the pressure shifts to development work.
Hadjar seems aware of that. He is not framing Singapore as a disaster. Instead, he is treating it as part of a longer learning curve.
“The goal is 2027,” said the 22-year-old. “All the mistakes we need to make, we’ll make them now, and we’ll be ready later.”
That comment is revealing. It suggests Hadjar is thinking beyond the immediate result and looking at the bigger picture. But Formula 1 does not always allow patience, especially at Red Bull. The team wants to win both championships, and it cannot afford to have one car battling in the midfield while the other is on the podium.
The technical side of the problem is not simple. Red Bull needs to understand why the same car seems to produce different handling characteristics for its two drivers. Verstappen is comfortable with a particular set-up window. Hadjar is still searching for a window of his own.
Singapore showed that when he finds it, the lap time is there. The overtakes he made on the soft tyres were not just ordinary moves; they were the result of a car that suddenly felt balanced and responsive. What is missing is the ability to recreate that feeling from circuit to circuit.
That makes the Austin weekend critical. Hadjar has identified the target. He wants to arrive in Texas with a car he can trust from the first practice session. If he can do that, his claim that the pace is there will become much harder to argue against.
For now, his assessment stands as the most honest counterpoint to the Wolff theory. He did not say he was unlucky. He did not blame traffic or strategy. He simply said he was quick enough to matter, and the only thing missing was the chance to prove it from a normal grid position.
The next few races will determine whether that confidence is justified. Hadjar has been handed a rare opportunity at Red Bull, with a confirmed seat and a clear long-term goal. What he needs now is a car that gives him the same platform as Verstappen, at least in terms of consistency.
If the team can deliver that, Singapore may be remembered as the weekend when a rookie showed his potential from the back of the field. If not, Hadjar’s frustration will only grow as the season moves toward its decisive phase.
Either way, he has made his position clear: the pace is not the problem. The problem is everything that stops him from unleashing it.
