Isack Hadjar has been officially disqualified from qualifying for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix after his Red Bull fell foul of the Formula 1 technical regulations.
The 21-year-old’s RB22 was in breach of Article C3.5.5 of the F1 regulations because his left hand side and right hand side floorboards were beyond the permitted dimension.
This announcement is no surprise though because it soon emerged after qualifying that Hadjar’s car was discovered as illegal during scrutineering, so a disqualification was expected.
The Frenchman will therefore start Sunday’s race from the pitlane after initially qualifying ninth, a position that will now go to Pierre Gasly with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg joining the Alpine on the fifth row.
An FIA statement read: “The stewards heard from the team representatives of Car 6 (Isack Hadjar).
“They did not dispute the findings of the technical delegate that portions of the LHS and RHS floor boards were protruding 2mm out of the reference volume RV-FLOOR BOARD.
“This is a breach of Article C3.5.5 of the FIA F1 Regulations and the usual consequences follow an admitted breach of the technical regulations.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 5 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.
“Decisions of the stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented.”
It has continued a rather disappointing weekend for Hadjar, as he also failed to score points in Saturday’s sprint race after qualifying ninth for the shortened contest.
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies said: “We made a mistake and we respect the decision of the stewards. No performance advantage was intended nor gained from the error.
“We will learn from this incident and assess our processes to understand how it occurred and to take steps to ensure it cannot happen again.
“As a team, we apologise to Isack and to our fans and partners. We learn the hard way today, but we will move forward.”
The Austrian outfit’s hopes of a strong result in Miami lay at Max Verstappen’s door, as the four-time world champion will join polesitter Kimi Antonelli on the front row aboard a heavily upgraded RB22.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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