Hadjar says Red Bull don't have the fastest car despite Verstappen's Malaysia and Singapore wins

Hadjar downplays Red Bull form ahead of Austin

Isack Hadjar has downplayed Red Bull’s place in the pecking order after team-mate Max Verstappen won the last two races in Malaysia and Singapore.

Speaking ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the Racing Bulls driver said he does not believe the team currently have the fastest car.

"No. I don't think we have the fastest car. I think the car is still very hard to drive. In Malaysia it was dominant, but I don’t think in Singapore it was the fastest car. That’s what I believe. I think if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would’ve won the race with more margin – that’s my opinion. In Singapore, I think [Ferrari] was the fastest car."

Hadjar pointed to Verstappen taking pole by "half a tenth" in Singapore and to Ferrari not having new soft tyres for the race as factors that influenced the outcome.

"[Verstappen] qualified on pole by half a tenth. Ferrari didn’t have new tyres in the race – I mean, not the softs. This has an effect as well. He put all the chances on his side, he made the difference in Q3 and that was enough."

The contrasting fortunes inside the Red Bull garage were stark in Singapore. While Verstappen capitalised on Red Bull’s major upgrades, Hadjar was hit by a series of technical issues that prevented him from taking part in Sprint Qualifying and forced a power unit change, relegating him to a pit lane start for the Grand Prix. He recovered to finish P10.

Frustration and focus on Austin

Hadjar said the Singapore weekend was defined by failures in every session.

"It was one of those weekends where you get a failure in each session. You learn from it and we just move on. I’m happy to be here in Texas. I like the track and the car – performance-wise – has been working really well these last couple of weekends."

He added the team remain aware of upgrades arriving in rival garages.

"We’re confident as a team but of course we are aware of the upgrades in the other garages. We’re still down to earth and we still know our weaknesses on the car. We’re still working on it. I just want to go out there and have another clean one because the last two weekends have been very frustrating considering the car I’ve been given."

Hadjar finished P16 for Racing Bulls at the Circuit of The Americas last season and is targeting a stronger result this year.

Piastri: Red Bull have become most consistently quick

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was also asked about Red Bull’s recent rise and admitted the upgrades have closed the gap to the frontrunners.

"I think Red Bull definitely took a pretty big step forward over the last triple header. Whatever upgrades they put on the car in Baku were very strong – obviously they had a double podium there, and then won the next two races with Max."

Piastri noted Ferrari’s underlying pace.

"It wasn’t a surprise that Ferrari were very strong in Singapore. On the data analysis, they’re always the joint-quickest or outright quickest in basically every corner this year, but they lose on all the straights – whether that’s from drag, from power, I don’t know. We certainly expected Ferrari to be the benchmark in Singapore, but we’ve expected them to be the benchmark at other circuits and it’s not turned out to be the case. I think they're very strong."

He concluded that while Red Bull and Ferrari are ahead of McLaren at present, the pecking order shifts week to week.

"Clearly the Red Bull was very strong. Both are stronger than us, for sure. I think over the last few weeks, Red Bull have definitely become the most consistently quick car, but I think each weekend the challenges are rotating."