The explanation behind Isack Hadjar’s disqualification during qualifying at the Miami GP

Red Bull’s Upgrades at F1 Miami Grand Prix

Red Bull has rolled out a series of upgrades for the RB22 ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, aiming to boost its performance. This decision seems to have paid off for Verstappen, who secured a front-row spot during qualifying and will start second, right next to pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli.

On a different note, Izak Hajar qualified ninth, trailing Verstappen by 0.825 seconds, which was certainly frustrating for the young driver.

Things took a turn for the worse on Sunday morning. There was a disqualification issue, as participants were removed from qualifying following post-session inspections.

During the inspection, race stewards found that Hajar’s RB22 extended about two millimeters beyond the set specifications of the 2026 F1 technical regulations. This resulted in a hearing with race officials early that Sunday morning.

Subsequently, Hajar was disqualified from the preliminary round following the public hearing.

In their report, Red Bull acknowledged the finding from the technical representatives, stating, “We did not dispute the technical representative’s finding that parts of the LHS and RHS floorboards protruded 2mm from the reference volume RV-FLOOR BOARD.”

As per standard procedure, race officials issued a session disqualification for the regulations breach. However, Red Bull requested that Hajar be allowed to participate in the race despite his disqualification from qualifying, and officials granted that request.

He will take his place in the last position, starting 22nd on the grid.

After the qualifying session, Hajar expressed his disappointment with the upgrades and his performance, which lasted an hour.

“The car was quite difficult to handle and also very fast. In Q3, I struggled to put everything together, and honestly, I didn’t have the straight-line speed,” Hajar remarked after the qualifying rounds.

“This track is tricky. With high track temperatures, the grip isn’t great. The results in the first three rounds don’t really reflect the racing track’s actual conditions,” he continued.

“It feels entirely different, and Max has a knack for adapting under these conditions. I can say I improved significantly in the corners compared to yesterday, but I still couldn’t match his pace, especially in the straights.”