Hadjar sees possible Red Bull edge in Verstappen’s Malaysia experience

Hadjar said Verstappen’s experience at the Malaysian circuit could help Red Bull as the team prepares for the race. Verstappen won Formula 1’s last race there, in 2017. Hadjar told RacingNews365 Nederland and other reporters that the advantage might be small, but that he intends to make use of it. He has practised in a simulator, he said, though he believes it cannot fully reproduce driving the circuit.

Hadjar also expects tyre management to be a challenge. He suggested the race could require two or even three pit stops, in contrast with the one-stop running he described in Baku, and said longer practice runs would be his priority. He expects a track temperature of around 50C.

For Hadjar, the immediate task is to use practice to understand how the tyres behave.