Hadjar admits he was 'too kind' to Verstappen during British GP battle

Isack Hadjar delivered one of his strongest qualifying performances of the season at Silverstone, outqualifying Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen for the first time by securing fifth on the grid.

The Frenchman held onto fifth in the opening laps before Verstappen overtook him on lap four. Speaking after the race, Hadjar admitted he could have defended his position more aggressively.

"I think I was kind with Max. But, you know, it's also good to follow him, which I was doing really well. And then suddenly a huge drop off in pace. Maybe it's something wrong I did in terms of tyre management," said Hadjar, as quoted by GPBlog.com.

Hadjar later discovered the loss of performance was caused by damage to his front wing rather than his driving or tyre management.

"I went on the hard, new tyres, no pace. Very confused, I was told we were missing a load on the car. And once they changed the front wing, I went back again. I nearly gained two seconds straight away. A waste of a race really," the Frenchman added.

Despite the setback, the Red Bull driver enjoyed the opportunity to race directly against his four-time world champion team-mate.

"It was great, it was quite nice and I felt good behind him, for a couple of laps until I lost everything. It was good, he was very impressive today again. He was fighting for the podium so good information but I wish I didn't have to change the front wing," Hadjar concluded.