Isack Hadjar claims Max Verstappen would have won more in a Ferrari

Hadjar sparks debate over Ferrari pace

Isack Hadjar claims Max Verstappen would have won the Singapore Grand Prix with a larger margin if he had driven a Ferrari. The Red Bull driver suggested the Ferrari was the fastest car at the Marina Bay circuit, even though he noted his own car remains hard to drive. Charles Leclerc dismissed the comment, stating it is "nonsense to start saying these kind of things" since he does not know the specifics of the car Hadjar drives. Lewis Hamilton told reporters that he and Hadjar have "different opinions" on the matter. Verstappen, who won the Singapore Grand Prix by seven seconds over Leclerc, agreed with Leclerc that the debate is "nonsense." He told media at the Circuit of the Americas that he cannot know how good a Ferrari is because he has not driven one. Verstappen also said that people often try to agitate others with such comments and stated, "I mean, we’re stressing about something that doesn’t matter, right?" He added that he prefers to let things be instead of constantly trying to agitate people. He also noted that life goes on and tomorrow is another day. Hadjar’s opinion stems from his belief that Ferrari’s pace in Singapore surpassed the Red Bull’s.

Verstappen dismisses claims in Austin

Verstappen took pole position in Singapore 0.05s ahead of Leclerc, while Hamilton finished 0.07s behind him in the other Ferrari. Hamilton was the quickest driver during both Q1 and Q2 sessions. Hadjar, who finished 10th in the Singapore race after starting from the pit lane due to a penalty for a failed power unit, remains eager to have a more competitive weekend in Austin after a weekend where he faced a failure in each session. I find Hadjar’s claim that Verstappen would have gained a bigger margin in a Ferrari to be a baseless provocation that ignores the reality of driver performance. Hadjar believes his teammate gets more from the Red Bull than the Ferrari drivers do, noting that the car was dominant in Malaysia but not in Singapore. He wants to have another clean race in Texas. Verstappen, who has won the last two Grands Prix, told reporters that he will not participate in this debate. He described the conversation as a "fun debate" but maintained that life goes on. He declined to call his qualifying lap special, saying, "I’m never going to say that it’s anything special because it can always be better." He felt very good with his car during that session.