Red Bull Racing is experiencing massively contrasting fortunes at the Singapore Grand Prix. While Max Verstappen successfully secured pole position for Sunday's main event, his teammate, Isack Hadjar, endured an absolute mechanical nightmare under the floodlights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
After suffering a terminal power unit failure that forced him to retire from Saturday's earlier Sprint race, the Red Bull Racing mechanics completed an incredible, hurried effort to replace the engine components ahead of the evening qualifying session. However, the rapid repairs simply didn't hold up.
Isack Hadjar
During Q1, Isack Hadjar reported over the team radio that his engine had shut off, forcing him to limp back to the garage. On a subsequent attempt to set a lap, he completely lost all of his gears due to a secondary gearbox failure. As a result, the French driver failed to set a representative time and officially qualified dead last in 22nd place - though he will actually start 21st due to a mandatory engine penalty previously applied to Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver George Russell.
When asked by Sky Sports F1 presenter Craig Slater if knowing the gearbox failure wasn't his fault made the disastrous result easier to digest, Isack Hadjar completely dismissed the notion.
"No, I want to drive. Honestly, I don't care about P22. I just want to get out there and do my thing. Get to it," Isack Hadjar stated.
Isack Hadjar currently sits 8th in the drivers' championship standings with 96 points.
Source: Motorsport
