Hadjar to be excluded from Miami GP qualifying over technical breach

Isack Hadjar will lose his ninth place on the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix starting grid after failing scrutineering

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar is set to be thrown out of qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix for falling foul of the Formula 1 technical regulations.

During scrutineering Hadjar's RB22 was found to be illegal due to the dimension of the floor board, which was found to be protruding two millimetres beyond the dimension defined in the 2026 technical regulations.

"After the Qualifying, legality volumes were checked on car number 06. The lhs [left-hand side] and rhs [right-hand side] floor board were protruding 2mm out of the reference volume RV-FLOOR BOARD. As this is not in compliance with Article C3.5.5 of the Formula 1 Technical Regulation, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration," wrote the FIA's technical delegate Jo Bauer.

Hadjar is therefore set to lose his ninth place on Sunday's starting grid and will have to start from the pitlane instead.

Hadjar wasn't able to capitalise on Red Bull's upturn in performance as it brought an array of aerodynamic upgrades to Florida. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen qualified on the front row, lining up alongside polesitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Speaking before the disqualification was announced, Hadjar felt he was struggling to adapt to the low-grip conditions in Miami which explained the 0.825s deficit to team-mate Verstappen.

“The car was very hard to drive, it was very fast. In Q3 I just couldn't put it all together and on the other side we have no straight line speed,” Hadjar said after qualifying.

“I think it's a very tricky track, very low grip with high track temperature. So nothing to do with what we had in the first three rounds. It's not a very fluid racing track with good grip. 

“It's completely different and Max is very good at adapting to these conditions. In the corners I can tell you I've made big progress compared to yesterday. I just couldn't tidy up like he did and on top of that I'm missing in every straight.”

Sunday's race start has been brought forward from 4pm to 1pm local Miami time due to the threat of thunderstorms derailing the schedule.

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- The Autosport.com Team

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