Hadjar Fumes at Red Bull Reliability as Gearbox Fault Leaves Him Last on Singapore Grid
Isack Hadjar was left at the back of the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix after a gearbox fault wrecked his Qualifying session at the Marina Bay Circuit, capping a miserable weekend for the Red Bull driver and drawing a public apology from his team principal.
Hadjar, who had been visibly eager to show his pace in Qualifying, was unable to complete a timed lap and was unclassified in the session, leaving him to line up on the last row for Sunday's race. It followed a retirement from the Singapore Sprint earlier in the day with a separate mechanical failure.
'I broke the gearbox'
The turning point came early in his lap. After a grateful radio message to his team for fixing the car following the Sprint, Hadjar's hopes were quickly dashed when he went deep, crept back around the circuit at slow speed and reported that "the engine is off". Although he got going again, the problems persisted and he had no choice but to return to the garage.
He later confirmed the fault was a gearbox failure, breaking it as he navigated the circuit.
"What's funny is that I felt nice in Sector 1, until in Turn 8 I broke the gearbox, basically. That's it. I tried to… I don't even know why we kept going," Hadjar explained.
"The car was absolutely damaged. I knew it was the end, but I didn't want to stop on track, so I kept bringing the car back [to] the garage.
"I was being annoying, but honestly, I'm just craving to be out there on track, driving and doing my best. Now I'm really, really frustrated, because we've had issues in every session but FP1."
Mounting reliability woes
The Singapore problems are the latest chapter in a difficult run for Hadjar's RB22. He had already lost a potential podium in Malaysia due to a battery issue, and his Singapore Sprint ended prematurely with a mechanical failure.
Despite the setbacks, Hadjar insisted he would keep pushing from the back of the grid, pointing to how far a driver can come at a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
"I'm going to give my best. I don't know… I think Carlos [Sainz] last year started around last [18th], and he finished 10th or something. I still want to push and bring points, but I just… I like the Qualifying, adrenaline, and [when] I don't get to have it, I'm really p****d."
The frustration was all the sharper given the contrast with teammate Max Verstappen, who finished on top in Qualifying to secure the 50th pole position of his Grand Prix career - proof that Red Bull have the speed to compete at the front in Singapore.
Mekies: 'We need to send a good apology to Isack'
Team Principal Laurent Mekies readily took responsibility for Hadjar's bad luck at a circuit where qualifying position carries extra weight.
"We need to send a good apology to Isack, really," Mekies told F1 TV after Qualifying. "We didn't give him any chance to express his speed this weekend.
"Luckily it doesn't happen very often, but it's been particularly frustrating this weekend – a power unit issue this morning in the Sprint and a gearbox issue this afternoon in Qualifying.
"It's so frustrating because it's one of the races where Qualifying position is particularly important, but we'll fight with him tomorrow from the back of the grid to bring him back to the points."
Context: a podium snatched before Singapore
The setback comes just days after Hadjar enjoyed what he called his "first proper podium" with a P3 finish in Baku, a result he described as his first secured "on pure pace" following a six-week absence recovering from a wrist injury.