Hadjar salvages third on grid after 'disaster' US GP weekend to target Antonelli

Isack Hadjar will start third on the grid for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday 25 October, after rescuing a qualifying campaign he described as a “disaster of a weekend” to end up just 0.215 seconds behind polesitter and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

The French-Algerian driver had his lap times repeatedly deleted throughout the weekend and was unable to complete a single clean lap on soft tyres during Saturday morning’s practice session. A significant set-up overhaul ahead of qualifying transformed the car, and Hadjar ultimately finished 0.036 seconds behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, who qualified second. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start alongside Hadjar in fourth.

“It’s been a disaster of a weekend for me,” Hadjar said in the post-qualifying press conference. “I’ve had all my lap times deleted all the time. This morning, I could not complete a single lap on the soft tyres. I knew there was something in the car because there were times when I could do half a lap and I felt comfortable, but I could never finish it.”

The turnaround in qualifying brought Hadjar genuine satisfaction, though he admitted frustration at leaving time on the table during his first Q3 run. “In that qualifying, the car really came alive a bit more for me. We really dug deep on the set-up. We tried so many things this weekend, and it really paid off,” he said. “On that note, it’s really, really satisfying. But I’m a bit gutted — not too much about the last lap, but more about the first attempt in Q3. On that first lap, I really felt like I lost so much time with that massive tailwind I got.”

Looking ahead to the race, Hadjar pointed to the strategic value of having two Red Bull cars occupying the second and third grid slots directly behind Antonelli. “It’s the two of us, so it’s a bit of an advantage. So we’ll try and use that,” he said, when asked whether he believed he could challenge the Mercedes driver for victory.

Antonelli heads into the grand prix as both polesitter and championship leader, but Red Bull’s ability to coordinate Verstappen and Hadjar from the front rows gives the team a potential tactical edge in what shapes up as a direct title-relevant contest.