Isack Hadjar counters Red Bull position : 'If Max had driven the Ferrari...'

Isack Hadjar believes Max Verstappen could have won the Singapore Grand Prix in a Ferrari, suggesting Red Bull's RB22 was not the fastest car on the grid despite his team-mate's victory.

Verstappen took the win in Singapore after qualifying on pole, beating Charles Leclerc's Ferrari by 7.335 seconds, with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in third.

Hadjar, by contrast, endured a miserable weekend, retiring from the sprint with a PU failure before a replacement engine shut down again and triggered a total gearbox failure in qualifying, leaving him without a representative lap time and down in 22nd on the grid. He eventually finished 10th in the race.

Speaking to media in Austin ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Hadjar reflected on a frustrating run of reliability issues before turning to the pace of the car itself.

"It was one of those weekends where you get a failure in each session, so you learn from it, and we just move on," said Hadjar.

"I'm happy to be here in Texas. I like the track, and, performance-wise, the car has been working really well the last couple of weekends.

"We're confident as a team, but, of course, we're aware of the upgrades on the cars in the other garages, so we're still down to earth.

"We still know our weaknesses on the car. We're still working on it, so I just want to go out there and have another clean one because the last two weekends have been very frustrating considering the car I've been given."

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Hadjar - 'Hard to drive'

Asked directly whether Red Bull has arrived in Texas with the fastest car, Hadjar was blunt. "No, I don't think we have the fastest car," he replied.

Pressed on why, the French-Algerian driver pointed to the RB22's handling rather than raw straight-line or downforce numbers, pointing to Verstappen and what he could have achieved if he had been behind the wheel of Ferrari's SF-26.

"Because I think the car is still very hard to drive," he said.

"In Malaysia, it was dominant, but I don't think in Singapore it was the fastest car. That's what I believe.

"I think if you'd put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race with more margin. That's my opinion. In Singapore, I think it was the fastest car."