That is racing for you: one moment you are matching your best-ever qualifying with a brilliant P3, and the next you are dropping down the order because the lights go out and the machine just does not launch the way it should. That was the reality for Isack Hadjar at the United States Grand Prix, where a slow getaway and a throttle problem derailed his afternoon before he ultimately salvaged a P6 finish at the chequered flag.
Now, the 22-year-old is looking ahead to the Mexico City Grand Prix, but he is doing so with a very clear, very public diagnosis of what is costing Red Bull. He admits he is "still a bit frustrated" by how Austin panned out, especially because the raw speed was undeniably there. Free practice had been a real struggle, yet he bounced right back to fight for pole and show genuinely great pace on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the gremlins kept biting. Beyond the poor start and the throttle drama, there were radio issues that left him blocked on something throughout the race, making the cockpit a difficult place to work. It is simply the latest chapter in a demanding sequence of weekends for the young driver. Think back to Sepang, where a battery issue cost him a podium finish, or Singapore, where technical problems pinned him down to a P10 finish.
Yet, the underlying performance of the Red Bull machine keeps him believing. His team mate Max Verstappen has already proven that the car can take the top step with victories in both Malaysia and Singapore, showing that the potential to win is very real if everything clicks. When it comes to the starts, though, Hadjar is under no illusions that the problem is completely fixed yet.
As he puts it, there are weekends where the team thinks they have the launch issues under control, only for the problem to swing right back the other way, and Austin was precisely one of those weekends. He notes that nothing could be done to overhaul that side of things in the few days between rounds, meaning they head into the next track with what they have while pushing hard to replicate past successes.
Mexico City now presents a totally different challenge, and a slippery one at that. Drivers are sliding around constantly, and while it might not be the most comfortable circuit to drive, the layout is fantastic. Hadjar plans to adapt quickly, minimize the damage, and use the long run down to Turn 1 to secure a nice tow that could change the game.
