Nightmare Saturday for Red Bull's Isack Hadjar as car fails in sprint and qualifying

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar endured a frustrating Saturday (Oct 10) at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix after retiring from the Sprint before suffering another mechanical issue during qualifying for Sunday's race.

Hadjar's troubles began during the Sprint on Saturday, when a power unit issue forced him out of the race. He drove his car off the circuit following the failure, ending his evening early.

The team managed to replace his power unit in time for qualifying later that evening, giving the Frenchman another chance to compete.

However, his problems returned during the session when his engine reportedly switched off, forcing him to return to the pits without setting a representative lap time.

Hadjar was subsequently eliminated in Q1, leaving him at the bottom of the qualifying order.

Highlighting the challenges of the street circuit, the driver remarked in a post-race interview, "Where you qualify is kind of where you finish," emphasising the importance of qualifying position at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Double setback for Hadjar

The reliability issues marked a disappointing turn for Hadjar, who had qualified inside the top 10 for Friday's Sprint qualifying.

He was unable to complete a competitive lap in Saturday's qualifying session, leaving him with plenty of ground to make up ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix.

Hadjar was among six drivers eliminated in Q1, alongside Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

Haas' Esteban Ocon and Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad were among those who improved their times towards the end of the session to avoid elimination.

Hadjar is set to move up one place on the starting grid after Mercedes' George Russell was handed a 40-place grid penalty that drops the Briton to the back of the field.

[[nid:747328]]

[email protected]