Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar will start the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix from the back of the grid. Following the end of Qualifying on Saturday in Miami, Hadjar was disqualified from Qualifying for a technical infringement.
Hadjar had placed himself ninth on the grid behind teammate Max Verstappen. It was evident that the upgrade package Red Bull brought with them to Miami had a significant impact. Both Verstappen and Hadjar had even openly praised the upgrades earlier in the week for the improvement in pace.
Why Hadjar was disqualified from Qualifying
Following the end of Qualifying on Saturday, Hadjar and Red Bull were called to the stewards after an inspection of the Frenchman’s car.
According to the stewards, a small section of the left and right-hand side floorboards was protruding outside of the regulatory reference volume by 2mm. Hadjar’s RB22 was hence against the regulations, and he was promptly disqualified from Qualifying. However, since the 21-year-old had set a time in FP1 that the stewards deemed satisfactory, the Frenchman was allowed to start the Miami Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
How Red Bull reacted
Red Bull has no intention to appeal the disqualification. Team Principal Laurent Mekies even extended an apology to Hadjar for the mistake. The team now has their focus on the main race of the 2026 F1 Miami Grand Prix and aims to maximise its potential on track with both drivers.
“We made a mistake and we respect the decision of the Stewards. No performance advantage was intended nor gained from this 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. Now our focus is on converting yesterday’s encouraging showing into a strong race performance this afternoon.”
