Isack Hadjar has detailed the pain he experienced during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix with his seat belts causing him issues.

The Frenchman was heard over the team radio complaining about a problem in his cockpit during Q1 and had to drive through the pain with time ticking down.

Isack Hadjar details Q1 seatbelt problems

Hadjar took to the team radio to complain that he could not focus with the issue and said the car was not “drivable” in its current state.

With the Frenchman making it through Q1, Racing Bulls took the decision to get him out of the car and were able to fix the problem with his seat belt.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 afterwards, Hadjar said it was a “nightmare.”

“It was a nightmare,” the 20-year-old said. “I just pulled through; honestly, I’m really proud of me, the lap I did in Q1 with what I had, unbelievable.

“I realised straight [away] in T3. I was like ‘OK, this is not going well’, and I nearly crashed actually. But I’m okay. I had to jump out, and jump back in.”

Hadjar also said: “Overall, I’m really happy about my performance and lap time until the last chicane, as sadly, I lost one tenth there.

“Tomorrow might be raining, so in this case, obviously, it would be a very different situation compared to today, especially starting in P7 with the big boys ahead of me. It will be a challenge, but it’s a good place to kick off the race from, and if we have a clean start, I think points may be on the table.”

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Hadjar qualified in seventh, matching his best result from the Chinese Grand Prix, as he finished ahead of Liam Lawson.

The New Zealander said it had been a “big adjustment” to return to the team having lost his Red Bull seat after just two races.

“It’s been a big adjustment to come back and basically try and get back in again.

“I haven’t really been looking, seeing much. It’s been busy enough so from that time, it’s been pretty smooth. The team’s been very, very supportive.

“It’s a team that I have a lot of very good memories with and now we have the chance to try and make some more.”

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