Isack Hadjar is pushing back against the narrative that his qualifying gap to Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix tells the full story. The young Frenchman qualified ninth for Sunday's race, a full 0.825 seconds behind the four-time world champion, who secured second place—just 0.166s off Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on pole. But Hadjar, who was later disqualified due to a technical infringement, insists the eight-tenths deficit isn't purely about pace.

After all, through the first three rounds of the 2026 season, the gap between the newly paired teammates never exceeded five-tenths in any qualifying session. The real issue, Hadjar explains, is Miami's uniquely challenging conditions. The circuit's low-grip surface and high track temperatures have thrown him off, as evidenced by his 0.961s deficit to Verstappen in Saturday's sprint qualifying as well.

"Just myself, just driving," Hadjar said when asked about the gap. "I think it's a very tricky track, very low grip with high track temperature, so nothing to do with what we had in the first three rounds. It's not a very fluid racing track with good grip. It's completely different, and Max is very good at adapting to these conditions."

Hadjar noted significant progress from Saturday to Sunday but admitted he couldn't match Verstappen's ability to tidy up his laps. "In the corners, I can tell you I've made big progress compared to yesterday. I just couldn't tidy up like he did, and on top of that, I'm missing in every straight."

The 21-year-old pinpointed sector one as his main struggle, a critical section that set the tone for the rest of his lap. "On my side, I couldn't take Turn 1, and once you miss Turn 1, it's Turn 2 and 3 that are compromised as well. It started there, and then you heat up the tyres more and then you pay the price for the rest of the lap. On top of that, I'm struggling with drivability as well and top speed."

Despite the setback, Hadjar remains upbeat about his progress in year two of F1. He attributes much of the gap to Verstappen's exceptional ability to maximize performance in tricky conditions—a reminder that even the best drivers face learning curves. For Red Bull, which arrived in Miami sixth in the constructors' championship with a heavily upgraded RB22, Hadjar's resilience could be key as the season unfolds.