Isack Hadjar receives 'left-field' instruction to close Max Verstappen chasm

Juan Pablo Montoya has told Isack Hadjar to consider going "left-field" to try and close the chasm to Max Verstappen in United States GP practice.

Verstappen placed second and third, respectively in the two sessions on Friday in Austin, with Hadjar placing 14th and ninth, respectively.

In the two sessions, the Frenchman was 1.654s and 0.931s slower than the Dutchman, respectively as Verstappen continued his recent strong momentum, whilst Hadjar slipped back at a track Verstappen has only been beaten at once in any race format since 2019 - when Charles Leclerc won the 2024 grand prix.

Hadjar himself labelled the day as a "disaster", the car as "undriveable" and said he was "completely killed in the high-speed corners."

Analysing the situation, six-time grand prix winner and two-time Indy 500 victor Montoya believes that Hadjar faces two options to close the gap to Verstappen, one of which is a risky "left-field" option.

"The thing is, as the season's progressing and he wants something different out of the car, it makes it harder because all the development, all the simulation, everything is based on what Max wants," Montoya observed on F1TV.

"So you're coming here with more of an unknown car and a car that is a little bit out of your window. So it makes it really hard. 

"Yes, you can do all your own work, but then the rest of the work that gets done is all focused on what Max is looking at, and it's working. So they're not going to change it because they're winning the races. 

"So you're not going to change it, so you have two options: you either adapt a little bit to what Max wants, or you go completely left field and try to explore the car in a different way.

"That's really hard because if you don't perform, they start questioning: 'What are you doing? Why are you going this way? It's not working. You need to get back.'"

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Hadjar's troubled Friday in Austin

Continuing his analysis, Montoya added that he hoped there was a technical issue with Hadjar's car to further explain the huge chasm in Verstappen's pace.

"And you go back, and you still can't drive the car. So it's not easy. 

"I feel bad for him, but I mean, he's got a ton of talent. He's got a ton of speed. So I don't know, I'm hoping that there's an issue, to be honest."