Guenther Steiner says Isack Hadjar Miami ‘outburst’ shows what Max Verstappen does to his teammates

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Guenther Steiner said ‘Max does that to you’ after watching Isack Hadjar thump his Red Bull steering wheel at the Miami Grand Prix. Hadjar crashed out of the race in the early stages.

Hadjar was having a reasonable weekend in Florida, reaching SQ3 on Friday before narrowly missing out on points in the shortened race. He qualified ninth for the main race, only to be thrown out for a technical infringement.

But even before he found the barriers in the tight sector-two chicane, a large gap had opened up to teammate Max Verstappen. Having been impressively close to the four-time world champion in the first few races, he was over eight-tenths down in GP qualifying.

Isack Hadjar ‘lost control of himself’ after Miami Grand Prix crash

Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner sounded pessimistic about Hadjar’s prospects. He doesn’t think the Frenchman will break the second-driver curse at Red Bull.

Onboard footage just after the race-ending crash showed Hadjar repeatedly hitting the steering wheel in frustration, as well as his own helmet. He’s been known to react this way before accidents, but Steiner says it shows the toll of partnering Verstappen.

“In Miami, he didn’t do a good job compared to Max,” said Steiner. “It’s back to the old thing now. We know all the history there. It’s a Max show at Red Bull.

Are you worried about Isack Hadjar after his reaction to crashing in Miami?

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“Will it change? I think we were hoping [it would]. I do not think it will change.

“We saw Hadjar, his emotional outburst. Now you’ve crashed, there’s no point in hurting yourself by hitting the steering wheel. He lost control of himself, but I think Max does that to you. I wouldn’t like to work with Max!”

There’s a school of thought that Red Bull’s Miami upgrades have taken the car away from Hadjar and towards Verstappen, though it’s still too early to cast a definitive verdict.

The qualifying stat that should give Isack Hadjar some hope

Hadjar has scored four points so far compared to 26 for Verstappen, but he deserves a run of races in the improved Red Bull before being written off.

He has maintained a 100% Q3 record this season, and while that doesn’t sound particularly impressive in Red Bull, that kind of consistency has been rare of late.

• READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya says Isack Hadjar’s Miami Grand Prix crash will ‘haunt’ him if he’s not careful

Predecessor Yuki Tsunoda never managed more than Q3 appearances in a row. In fact, you have to go back to the start of the 2024 season for the last time the second Red Bull, Sergio Perez in this instance, reached the top 10 shoot-out in six straight sessions (including Sprints).

Hadjar has started from a higher base than Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, but the big question now is whether he builds on that or loses his way in the midst of ‘the Max show’.