Red Bull have become known for making quick changes to Max Verstappen’s teammates, and Isack Hadjar has openly spoken about the pressure he felt during his debut season with the team after crashing in his first F1 test of pre-season.
The 2026 pre-season got off to a familiar start for Isack Hadjar, echoing how his first year in F1 began — with a costly crash before the racing even started.
This year, it happened on day two of F1’s shakedown at Barcelona. In wet conditions, Hadjar ended up in the barriers again, forcing Red Bull to rush replacement parts from Milton Keynes to get back on track.
His car wasn’t ready until lunchtime on Friday. By then, Sergio Perez had already put down 93 laps in Red Bull’s revised RB23, while Verstappen added another 43 before lunch.
Isack Hadjar admits he thought his ‘whole season’ was over after Red Bull crash during F1’s Barcelona shakedown
As pre-season testing moved to Bahrain, Hadjar spoke about how he felt after the incident in Montmelo, and admitted the immediate impact it had on him mentally.
“When I had the accident, I immediately thought about Pierre [Gasly],” he told journalists, including Sky Sport Germany.
“So I went on Twitter and read all the comments, and I thought to myself, ‘Now the whole season is over for me,’ and that’s how I got over it, to be honest.”
This time around, Red Bull handled things differently. The team chose to focus on some of the positives from Hadjar’s day in the RB22 instead of dwelling on the mistake.
That approach contrasts with Helmut Marko’s harsh criticism following Hadjar’s 2025 crash in Melbourne and reflects a different leadership style under Laurent Mekies.
In Bahrain testing, Hadjar completed 86 laps during his first full day and finished with the fifth-fastest time overall. While his time was around two seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s fastest lap from a different session, it should be noted that they were likely running different programmes.
Isack Hadjar reveals he thought his Red Bull season was over after F1 shakedown crash
The crash didn’t help matters, though it’s not something he is unfamiliar with. The Frenchman found himself in a similar spot before the start of his rookie F1 season.
Hadjar crashed during the formation lap at the Australian Grand Prix, never making it to the grid before his day ended in tears.
This time around, things went wrong on day two of shakedown testing in Barcelona, where he lost control in wet conditions and hit the barriers. Red Bull had to scramble parts from Milton Keynes to Barcelona to get things back on track.
Red Bull have seen several young drivers come through their ranks in recent years, and while Verstappen is still comfortably ahead, early impressions suggest Hadjar could be capable of holding his own.
His immediate task will be finding consistency—something that should improve naturally as he gains more mileage behind the wheel. If he can get comfortable quickly, there’s no reason why he can’t impress for a team that has built a solid platform for him so far.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
