Hadjar disqualified from qualifying in Miami over an illegal floor and will start the Grand Prix from the pit lane – Verstappen’s team mate was disqualified from qualifying in Miami due to a technical infringement on his Red Bull car, and will therefore start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. Meanwhile, his teammate Max Verstappen remains unaffected and will line up second on the grid.
The FIA confirmed that the dimensions of both sides of Hadjar’s floor exceeded the permitted limits, placing it outside the “reference volume” defined in the technical regulations. Consequently, the French driver, who had originally qualified in ninth place, was disqualified and must start the race from the pit lane. The Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 18:00 BST.
FIA finds Red Bull floor breach after late investigation
The issue emerged late on Saturday evening in Miami when technical checks by the FIA identified that the floor edges on Hadjar’s RB22 were approximately two millimetres too wide on both sides.
Due to the timing of the discovery, a final decision was delayed until Sunday morning. Red Bull representatives were summoned to meet FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer at 12:00 BST (07:00 local time) to formally review the matter.
Following the investigation, the FIA confirmed that the car had breached Article C3.5.5 of the technical regulations. Red Bull accepted the findings, acknowledging that the car did not comply with the rules.
Red Bull has accepted responsibility for the error
Shortly after the decision was announced, Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies issued a statement taking responsibility for the infringement and confirming that there had been no intent to gain an advantage.
“We made a mistake and respect the race stewards’ decision. It was neither intentional nor did this error provide any performance advantage,” he said.
“We will learn from this incident and review our procedures to understand how it happened and ensure it doesn’t happen again. As a team, we apologise to Isack, our fans, and partners.”
He added, ‘We made no attempt to gain a speed advantage and did not benefit from this mistake. We will take steps to ensure this cannot happen again. We are learning a hard lesson, but we will continue to make progress.’
Verstappen remains unaffected as Red Bull avoids wider issues
Despite concerns that the issue could extend to both cars, there are currently no indications that Max Verstappen’s RB22 is illegal.
Reports suggest that the Dutch driver’s floor was also inspected and passed all the necessary checks, meaning he retains his front-row starting position. Verstappen’s second place on the grid is his best qualifying result of the season so far.
The discrepancy between the two cars suggests a potential production or assembly issue specific to Hülkenberg’s floor rather than a fundamental design flaw across the team’s package.
Tough blow for Hadjar’s race prospects
The penalty is a significant setback for Hadjar, who had shown consistent but modest form throughout the Miami weekend.
The 21-year-old qualified ninth for both the sprint and the main race, narrowly missing out on points in the sprint after finishing ninth. Starting from the pit lane makes it unlikely that he will finish in the points in Sunday’s race.
Hadjar has scored four points across the opening rounds of the season and currently sits 12th in the drivers’ standings. While his early performances have been considered promising, this incident interrupts his momentum at a critical stage of the campaign.
Red Bull will now need to modify his car to ensure it complies with the regulations before the race. He will then join the race from the pit lane once the field has passed.
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