Laurent Mekies: Red Bull 'owes' Isack Hadjar after challenging Singapore GP

Laurent Mekies offered an apology to Isack Hadjar following a weekend of reliability woes during the Singapore Grand Prix that hampered the French driver’s performance. The event was a frustrating one for Hadjar, as a series of technical glitches disrupted nearly every session.

Despite the troubles, Hadjar showcased his resilience on race day, clawing his way from the pit lane to finish 10th. Mekies, the Red Bull Team Principal, was quick to acknowledge the team's shortcomings, candidly stating, "we owe him one."

Hadjar came into Singapore off the back of strong performances, notably a podium in Azerbaijan. However, his momentum was disrupted when a late power unit issue in Malaysia dropped him from third to fifth. The troubles persisted into Singapore, starting with Sprint Qualifying where more power unit issues relegated him to ninth place. Reflecting on the difficulties, Hadjar remarked, "What seemed like a good start of the day turned into really very poor performance. I never got to have a good lap really, I'm just fighting with the car, had engine issues on the last run. Just struggling."

Saturday compounded the misery when a power unit failure early in the Sprint left Hadjar stranded. Although the Red Bull crew managed a quick switch to used components for Qualifying, a subsequent gearbox failure meant he couldn't complete a flying lap. Adding to his woes, the car was doused with extinguishant after being parked.

"Today was a disaster," Hadjar commented. "I could have stayed back in Paris, and it would have been the same…"

The team decided to break parc fermé regulations to install a new power unit, forcing Hadjar to start from the pit lane. Despite losing out initially to Fernando Alonso, Hadjar found his rhythm, gaining pace and eventually finishing 10th, just behind George Russell.

After the race, Hadjar reflected, "It was good for everything that's happened. Definitely good pace, but I don't know what to say. It's just surprising we could make that race entertaining, considering it's very difficult to overtake around that track. I'm quite happy about that. But I would have liked to make use of that pace to fight for a win."

Despite the setbacks, Hadjar praised his team's efforts: "It was challenging for my mechanics. They suffered quite a lot for just one point. So it's definitely their weekend, and they deserve better. So we try again."

Mekies admitted the team had let Hadjar down, acknowledging the weekend's mechanical failures across the board: "We had a pretty horrific weekend on his side of the garage. We basically didn't give him any chance to do any competitive laps before the main race on Sunday."

He was full of praise for the crew's hard work, especially under the sweltering conditions of Singapore: "The crew – not only Isack's, but also Max \\[Verstappen's\\] – were under the car changing massive components all weekend long. I've never seen such an incredible turnaround, and to then deliver a faultless race car on Sunday. Nonetheless, we have lost the chance to see Isack's speed here. So we owe him one."

Mekies was impressed with Hadjar's determination, noting, "In the race, starting last and spending 90% of the race in traffic, he still showed very, very strong pace, which only confirmed that he would probably have been up there on the sharp end of the classification."

With Verstappen's dominant performance over the weekend highlighting the RB22's capabilities, Hadjar is eager to leave the difficulties behind and focus on the upcoming US Grand Prix. "Now since Malaysia, I'm just desperate to have a car that's working a bit better on my side to fight for a win," he said. "Because at the moment, it's not possible to fight. So now we need to reset, understand what happened since Sunday in Malaysia, and make sure to come back in Austin and fight for podiums."