Isack Hadjar does not expect to return to the heights of Monaco in Barcelona

The Racing Bulls driver arrives in Barcelona after two good performances at Imola and on the streets of Monte Carlo. This gives him reason to be optimistic as he heads into the third and final round of this hat-trick of races. Optimistic, certainly, but above all realistic! The Parisian believes that Mercedes Benz will regain their position in the hierarchy, which will make access to Q3 more complicated for the Racing Bulls, who both finished in the points at the last Grand Prix, in the Principality.

"Honestly, it is very unlikely that we will have the same level of performance as in Monaco.", he explained on the official F1 website. "We expect the Mercedes to be back in front of us on a circuit like this. It will be more difficult to get into Q3, but I still think we have a chance of fighting for points."

While Pierre Gasly, for example, is looking forward to driving again on the Barcelona circuit, Isack Hadjar is not particularly keen on the track hosting the Spanish Grand Prix. He is, however, looking forward to returning to a circuit where overtaking will be easier, especially on the long pit straight. The narrow and winding tracks at Imola and Monaco were not the best from this point of view...

"I think it's a decent track, not bad or amazing. It's a good track for Formula 1. I also think that going back to the old layout of the last two corners is a good thing, especially for the pace over a lap. It's a circuit where you can overtake when you have the advantage on the tires, which we couldn't do in the last two races. It will also be a good exercise to go from an extremely specific circuit, Monaco, to a much more familiar layout.

Although he doesn't feel like he's made much progress over the last three rounds, which Isack Hadjar explains by a highly competitive start to the season on his part, the French driver is finally satisfied with having been able to improve his performances in qualifying, notably thanks to a better understanding of what his VCARB 02 needs to progress from Q1 to Q2, and finally to Q3.

"There has been progress, but not a huge amount, because I feel like I've been really up to par since the start of the season. I've understood a few things, mainly on a technical level. In qualifying, we always managed to go in the right direction in terms of setup, both in Imola and Monaco. I feel like I've improved a lot in that area."

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