Nobody had a more painful Japanese Grand Prix qualifying session than Racing Bulls Formula 1 rookie Isack Hadjar, who says he nearly crashed due to a seatbelt issue.
Hadjar struggled with ill-fitting seatbelts throughout Q1, expressing discomfort and his frustration to the team, having had a similar issue in final practice.
He still produced a solid final Q1 effort that was almost three tenths quicker than Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson to comfortably progress to Q2 before his belts could be adjusted.
"It was a nightmare, man. I just pulled through," Hadjar explained to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying.
"Honestly, I'm really proud of the lap I did in Q1 with what I had, unbelievable!
"I realised at Turn 3 and I was like, 'OK this is not going well', I nearly crashed actually.
"What a journey!"
Racing Bulls got Hadjar to jump out of the car after Q1 and reset his seatbelts when he jumped back in for the start of Q2, resolving the issue.
He progressed to Q3 and matched the seventh place he qualified in for the Chinese GP - meaning he was once again the faster Racing Bull driver in qualifying.
"Every lap we made we made a nice improvement with the balance, the settings. And honestly, the car just came alive for that final lap," Hadjar added.
"It was a fantastic lap to be honest, I couldn't have gone much faster."
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Hadjar is benefitting from the driver-friendly elements of the VCARB02 which partners with a set-up approach that is specifically targeted at giving a consistent driver platform for rookies.
"I'm really comfortable, the car is just nice to drive, quite predictable, honestly I’m just having fun and it's just efficient, the car is just fast," Hadjar said.
"So if it's easy to drive then no doubt I can deliver."
The peak window might be more accessible than a Red Bull, but Hadjar is still getting the job done and has joined Verstappen in the overachieving Red Bull driver camp at Suzuka.
