Carlos Sainz delivered a scathing assessment of F1 rookie Isack Hadjar after a disastrous qualifying session in Montreal, accusing the Racing Bulls driver of outright ruining his weekend.
Hadjar was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Sainz in Q1 — but that was cold comfort for the furious Williams driver, who believes the damage is already done.
Sainz, who had shown promising pace leading into qualifying, failed to escape the opening segment, for the second race in a row, due to Hadjar’s lack of awareness on track. And while the stewards agreed Hadjar was at fault, the punishment was far from enough for a driver whose ambitions were shattered in the span of a single lap.
“Well, I don't care if I was fast. If in Q1 you arrive and there's a guy in the middle of the road that completely blows your qualifying away and that means that your weekend is destroyed,” Sainz seethed after qualifying.
“I'm in P17 when I should be fighting for Q3 and top eight today, so I'm extremely disappointed.”
Dirty Air Games and a Critical Block
Sainz provided a detailed breakdown of the incident, accusing Hadjar of playing tactical games before outright impeding him during the critical lap.
The Spaniard first noticed the rookie’s erratic positioning at Turns 3 and 4 – and then things went from bad to worse.
“I saw him already in Turn 3 to 4, I was surprised he didn't get out of the way in 3 to 4. I already lost a tenth or two with a dirty air, but I was like, ‘okay, he's just playing the game of giving me dirty air.’
“That's not impeding, but he's giving me dirty air of a tenth just to try, maybe he was on the cut and trying to give me dirty air on purpose.”
“And then I realised going into Turn 5, he's not getting out of the way, I have to lift and I have to overtake him in the inside of six. Like if it's a race, obviously with a bad angle into six and seven.
"I lost another two or three tenths there, so three or four tenths just in that lap, which is anyway a lap that is 20 milliseconds from Q2. That was the margin we had today.
“So, it’s honestly very frustrating, but it's what it is.”
Canadian Grand Prix - Qualifying resultsSainz’s frustration is entirely justified: in an ultra-tight qualifying session, a matter of hundredths made the difference between elimination and progression. Hadjar’s lack of awareness – whether deliberate or not – cost Sainz dearly in a season where every point counts.
No Mood for Optimism
While most drivers try to regroup and focus on the race ahead, Sainz made it abundantly clear he wasn’t in the mood to talk damage limitation.
“I don't care about tomorrow right now, my brain is on how disappointed I am with today's outcome because I was 20 milliseconds off Q2 and I got impeded. Basically, I had to do a wet line in a corner,” he said.
“Honestly, I don't care right now, we've been quick all weekend, we were quick in race pace, but we're still not where we want to be.”
The penalty may stain Hadjar’s rookie record, but for Sainz, it’s a case of too little, too late. His Montreal weekend – once full of promise – now lies in tatters, buried under a careless block that the stewards acknowledged but couldn't undo.
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Hadjar sanctioned but Sainz livid over ‘destroyed weekend’ F1i.com.
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