Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan was left begging Lewis Hamilton to free him from his media duties ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. Monaghan called for the Ferrari star’s help as he was”digging himself a hole” on Friday.

The Friday before every race this season sees a senior team figure from each manufacturer face questions, and it was Monaghan handed the task for Red Bull after Free Practice. It did not appear to be a position that Monaghan was comfortable with following a difficult day for Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

FP2 saw the Dutchman finish more than a second behind pacesetter Oscar Piastri. Verstappen sat 10th behind the likes of Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.

Hadjar, meanwhile, was down in 15th, 1.262 seconds off the front. Monaghan offered an unconvincing assessment of the team’s performance before searching for Hamilton’s help.

“I don’t think there are any bits of this track that are not particularly challenging,” Monaghan started. “It consists of corners and straights, much like most of the tracks do. Sector 1 has more corners, so yeah, overall, the lap time is not very good.”

At that point, Hamilton entered the pen and walked into the eyeline of a desperate Monaghan. The Red Bull chief did not prove persuasive enough, it seems.

“Sector 1 consists really of some chunks of a corner…,” he continued. “Please, Lewis, take over, I’m digging myself a deep hole, and I’m about to fall in.”

With no success, Monaghan finished his assessment. “Sector 1 consists of a lot of corners, and we’ve got to get that to improve, and I think the rest will come with it.

“If we can get the balance of the car better, corners and straights get better, so that is our challenge for the evening.”

Red Bull have not challenged at the top so far this season. Verstappen has eight points in the drivers’ championship after claiming sixth in Melbourne and retiring last time out in China.

Hadjar 21, finished eighth in Shanghai but was the one who was unable to finish in Australia on the opening weekend. The young Frenchman is hoping things improve over the season, but appears content at how he is matching up with his team-mate.

“I think it makes sense, the gap I have to Max over the last couple of weekends,” Hadjar said. “It’s pretty much what I wanted; not what I expected, but what I wanted.

“But then let’s see how the season goes. When the car gets upgrades, gets better, and gets easier to drive, let’s see how it goes.

“But I don’t see any reason why it would change, because it’s the same car. I drive it, he drives it, and that’s how it is.”