Hadjar survives FP1 crash, rebuilds RB22 to secure P5 in Monaco
Isack Hadjar’s Monaco weekend was hit by a heavy crash at Turn 15 in Free Practice 1 (FP1) on Friday. He said he unexpectedly lost the rear, spun into the barrier with the tyres locking up and called the day “a horrific day.” Red Bull rebuilt the RB22 and returned him to the track, but the incident cost him significant running and rhythm ahead of qualifying. Some accounts said the repairs cost him more than half of FP1; others suggested the disruption extended into FP2. Red Bull returned Hadjar to measured running in FP2 as he rebuilt confidence, and he finished sixth in that session. He used FP3 mainly for limited running to manage remaining damage and try to regain pace and momentum. Hadjar recovered through qualifying after the disrupted Friday. A strong Q2 lap put him as high as third on the timesheets and carried him into Q3. He described Q3 as “too messy,” said he left time on the track and estimated he was roughly five tenths of a second slower than the drivers ahead. He lost places on his final Q3 run and took fifth on the grid, three places behind team-mate Max Verstappen and ahead of both McLaren drivers and George Russell’s Mercedes. Hadjar called P5 a solid platform at a venue where overtaking is difficult and said he would look to the race start and exploit start-performance differences into Turn 1 to try to make progress. Red Bull produced one of its strongest qualifying performances of the season, with Verstappen recovering from a tricky FP3 to secure a narrow front-row slot next to pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen described the session as “an extremely positive” turnaround and warned that race starts would be decisive. Team principal Laurent Mekies praised the driving and the work from Milton Keynes, and the team framed start execution and strategy as key to converting qualifying pace into a race result. Hadjar said he had rebuilt confidence across the sessions and believed that a tight pack and the right strategy could create overtaking opportunities on Sunday.
