Hadjar Faces Disappointment in Austrian GP Qualifying after Q2 Exit

Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar faced a challenging day at Austrian GP qualifying — the rookie driver was eliminated in Q2 despite showing promising pace in Q1.

His Q1 lap time of 1:05.063 would have been good enough for P8 — but a performance drop in Q2 means the French-Algerian driver will start from P13 for tomorrow’s race at the Red Bull Ring.

“I don’t know, my Q1 lap would have qualified me for Q3. Tons of understeer in high speed, tyres not ready for Turn 1, just a nightmare,” Hadjar told the media.

Despite today’s struggles, Hadjar has shown impressive performance in his debut season — currently sitting 10th in the drivers’ standings, five positions ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and eight ahead of his teammate Liam Lawson.

While Hadjar struggled, Liam Lawson managed to secure an impressive P6 in qualifying.

“Feels like it’s been a long time since we had a good quali. We’ve done a lot of work on the car and now it’s showing,” Lawson commented.