The only blemish on Hadjar’s Canadian weekend, however, came from an overly aggressive defensive move that nearly forced Leclerc onto the grass, prompting the stewards to hand the Frenchman a 10-second post-race penalty, although it did not significantly affect his final result.
Hadjar opens up on risky move against Leclerc during Canadian GP
Speaking to GPblog and other media after the race, Hadjar admitted he fully accepted the penalty handed to him by the stewards, acknowledging he had been too aggressive in the incident with Leclerc. The Frenchman explained that the move was never intentional, insisting he had simply misjudged where the Ferrari driver was positioning his car on the straight. Hadjar also apologised to Leclerc afterwards, describing the manoeuvre himself as a ‘stupid’ mistake while praising the Monegasque for being one of the cleanest drivers on the grid.
Photo: Race Pictures
“I don’t mind the penalties, I think they’re fair. I was too harsh. If anything, it wasn’t even on purpose. I just got confused about where he was heading. So I didn’t mean to send him on the grass, obviously. He’s a very clean driver, so I just apologised because it was a bit stupid.”
Speaking more broadly about his race, Hadjar admitted he was left confused by the sudden lack of pace compared to qualifying. The Frenchman explained that the car had felt excellent on Saturday, whereas during the Grand Prix it became difficult to drive and reminded him of the struggles he experienced back in FP1.
“I don’t really understand where the pace went, because I really felt like I was struggling a lot out there. Saturday felt great in the car, and now it’s very hard to drive. In a way, I felt like I was back in FP1, to be honest. Not pleasant to drive, and I need to really dig deep, because I felt comfortable for the first few laps, and then they opened the gap and I could not match their pace, whereas on Saturday, I was easily there. So no clue.”
Red Bull issues stark conclusion despite Canada breakthrough
Speaking to GPblog and other media in Montreal, Mekies explained that Red Bull appeared to have reduced the gap to the frontrunners compared to previous rounds, pointing to both the qualifying deficit and the much smaller margin to victory in Sunday’s race compared to Miami. According to the Frenchman, the team not only confirmed the progress already seen in Florida, but may have extracted even more performance from the car in Canada.
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
At the same time, however, Mekies warned against getting carried away by the result, stressing that the characteristics of the Montreal circuit may also have played a role in helping the RB22 perform more competitively. Even so, he viewed the weekend as another positive indication that Red Bull’s development direction is beginning to deliver results, especially considering several rival teams also introduced fresh upgrades in Canada.