Button links Hadjar’s frustration to what Verstappen can do with the car

Jenson Button believes Isack Hadjar’s frustration after the United States Grand Prix stemmed from seeing what Max Verstappen could do with the car while Hadjar himself could not yet manage the same. Button, the 2009 F1 champion and a Sky F1 analyst, described Hadjar as highly emotional in Austin.

Hadjar set the third-fastest time in qualifying, narrowly slower than team-mate Verstappen. Both Red Bull drivers started the race on soft tyres: Verstappen retained second place, while Hadjar quickly dropped to fifth and eventually finished sixth.

Hadjar himself pointed to the start as where his problems began. He said he had done everything right, but the clutch delivered too much power, something he could not control. He was fed up, he said, with not knowing what would happen when he released the clutch.