‘P***ed off’ Hadjar demands Red Bull redesign after US GP struggles

Isack Hadjar has demanded a complete redesign of Red Bull’s “fragile” clutch after a challenging United States Grand Prix.

Lining up third at the Circuit of The Americas, Hadjar lost places off the line before a mapping issue cost him lap time after his pit stop.

Isack Hadjar explains Red Bull clutch problems after United States Grand Prix

The Frenchman finished the Grand Prix in sixth place, half a minute behind race winner Kimi Antonelli.

Hadjar lined up third for Sunday’s 56-lap United States Grand Prix, but was swamped by the Ferrari teammates on the opening lap.

Hadjar fought to recover but leaving the pits on the wrong engine map cost him time, with the drivers also unhappy with the team’s call to put him on the hard Pirelli tyres.

His race engineer Richard Wood explained to him after his stop: “So you’ve got the pit stop in the map. You’ve got a large dead band, so your throttle only comes in at 40 per cent.”

That, though, was the least of Hadjar’s complaints.

Speaking to Sky Sports’ Craig Slater after the race, Hadjar said: “I’m just watching my race starts. I do everything perfect in terms of procedure and then I just have clutch over delivery.

“And these things that are just out of my control. It’s starting to piss me off, you know.

“And then I have poor radio coverage. I can’t hear what’s happening in the pits.

“I leave the pits with the wrong map and I’m losing a second lap every lap on that hard tyre. I mean, it’s just…”

Asked about Red Bull’s issues off the line, which have also affected Hadjar’s teammate Max Verstappen, the Frenchman bluntly said: “It needs a redesign. That’s it.”

Pressed on what exactly needs to be changed, he replied: “The clutch.

“It needs a redesign because at the moment it’s too fragile. It’s not coping well with temperature, and it’s a real struggle.”

Hadjar doubled down on his complaints about Red Bull’s clutch when he spoke with the media in the bullpen.

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“We need a new clutch because I’m spot on the procedure, but it keeps over-delivering sometimes, and we just need to change what’s going on,” he said.

The driver believes if Red Bull can fix its clutch issue, he’d be on the podium.

“I don’t even know what’s happening,” he said. “I drop the clutch, it’s going into a nightmare. So we fix these already, we might be on the podium.

“The hardest things it seems like we can do, and silly things we can’t.”

Asked if he was confident that Red Bull would resolve its start issues next season, Hadjar delivered a bleak reply.

“Yeah, yeah. No, I’m not confident,” he said.

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