Here's the thing, despite Max Verstappen taking the last two races, Isack Hadjar is adamant that Red Bull simply do not have the fastest car on the grid. While his teammate capitalized on major upgrades to secure triumphs in Malaysia and Singapore, Hadjar's weekend in Singapore was completely derailed by a string of technical issues. Those failures kept him out of Sprint Qualifying, forced power unit changes, dropped him to a pit lane start for the Grand Prix, and left him fighting all the way back to P10.
Yet, even with those contrasting fortunes inside the garage, Hadjar completely rejected the notion that Verstappen's brilliance means Red Bull holds the ultimate machine heading into the final stretch of the season. Speaking ahead of the United States Grand Prix, he made his stance clear: “No. I don't think we have the fastest car.” He conceded that while the car was dominant in Malaysia, it certainly was not the quickest beast in Singapore. In fact, he offered a striking opinion that if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won that race with an even bigger margin.
Breaking down the weekend, Hadjar pointed out that Verstappen only took pole by half a tenth and noted that Ferrari did not have new soft tyres available for the race, which naturally played a role. He praised his teammate for putting all the chances on his side and making the decisive difference in Q3, but remained grounded about the machine beneath him, calling it very hard to drive.
Now, the Frenchman is eager to put a truly disastrous Singapore behind him, where he suffered a failure in every single session. Arriving in Texas, he noted that he finished P16 for Racing Bulls at the Circuit of The Americas last season. While he is happy to be back at a track he likes and acknowledged that the car's performance has been working really well over the last couple of weekends, he emphasized that the team remains down to earth and acutely aware of their car's weaknesses. They are still working on fixes, and after two very frustrating weekends considering the machinery he was given, Hadjar simply wants a clean run.
Out in the paddock, McLaren's Oscar Piastri weighed in on the competitive order, readily admitting that Red Bull's updates have allowed them to catch up to the other frontrunners. According to the Australian, Red Bull took a pretty big step forward over the last triple header, noting that their Baku upgrades were very strong and led straight into a double podium and those back-to-back wins with Max.
Piastri also touched on the Ferrari threat, noting that data analysis shows them as the joint-quickest or outright quickest in basically every corner this year, even if they lose out on the straights due to drag or power. While McLaren expected Ferrari to be the benchmark in Singapore, Piastri admitted that the Scuderia's status as a benchmark has fluctuated across circuits. Ultimately, he believes both Red Bull and Ferrari are stronger than McLaren at the moment, concluding that while Red Bull has become the most consistently quick car over the last few weeks, the challenges continue to rotate every single weekend.
