A difficult evening on the other side of the Red Bull garage
Isack Hadjar finished Sprint Qualifying on Friday, 9 October, in ninth place. FIA document 32 lists him without a valid SQ3 time, while Max Verstappen is first. Formula1.com reports that Hadjar’s lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.
Comfort on hard tyres, difficulties at the end
In his post-session reaction published by Formula1.com, Hadjar says he felt comfortable on hard tyres in FP1. He had not tested the softs in practice, however. The driver describes engine issues on his final run and difficulty controlling the car. This is the driver’s account, rather than a public technical diagnosis from the team.
Red Bull has questions to answer
Red Bull’s head of race strategy, Hannah Schmitz, describes a day of contrasting results. In the team statements published by Formula1.com, she explains that interruptions limited the SQ1 data. On Hadjar’s side, the team was managing an issue, and the deleted lap complicated the session. The report does not identify a failed component or confirm that the issue has been resolved.
Grand Prix qualifying is a separate opportunity
The official schedule places the Sprint on Saturday, 10 October, at 12:00 in Romania, with Grand Prix qualifying at 16:00. APEX interpretation: a deleted lap prevents a meaningful SQ3 pace comparison. The next qualifying session can provide a new reference for Hadjar, but there is no result yet to confirm a recovery.
