French Formula One rookie Isack Hadjar said he almost crashed as he battled seatbelt pain to qualify seventh at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday.
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The Racing Bulls driver got through the first Q1 phase, running wide at one point, and jumped out of the car as soon as he could after complaining about the situation over the team radio.
The team fixed the problem and Hadjar went on to the final top 10 shootout.
"It was a nightmare, man. Honestly, it was... I'm really proud of me. The lap I did in Q1, with what I had, unbelievable," he told Sky Sports television.
"I realised straight in T3 (turn three). I was like, OK this is not going well. I nearly crashed, actually. But I'm OK."
How Quali started v how it finished for Isack Hadjar 👏 pic.twitter.com/z9NJYYsyK3
— Autosport (@autosport) April 5, 2025
The 20-year-old, who crashed on the formation lap on his debut in Australia last month and has yet to score a point, has now qualified seventh for the last two races and Saturday's position put him ahead of his hero Lewis Hamilton.
"Yeah, not bad. What a journey," the 2024 Formula Two runner-up said of Ferrari's seven times world champion being alongside in eighth position on the starting grid.
"Every lap we made, we made a nice improvement with the balance, with the settings. And, honestly, the car just came alive that final lap. And it was a fantastic lap, to be honest. Couldn't have gone much faster.
"So I'm just having fun... the car is just fast. So, if it's easy to drive as well, then, no doubt, I can deliver."
New teammate Liam Lawson, the New Zealander demoted from Red Bull in a straight swap with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, will start 13th.
"It's just not driveable" 📻
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 5, 2025
Isack Hadjar reports he is still struggling with the same issue he experienced in FP3 in the cockpit #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/81e9RE2Jqf